You can call me Virginia...

...because, yes, there is a Santa Claus (referring to this famous newspaper column, written by Francis Pharcellus Church in 1897). Despite everything with even the massive over commercialization of the Christmas season, I still believe in what this holiday can mean to those who wish to see beyond what it has become, and rather in what it is supposed to be: a celebration of community and the wish of peace and joy for humanity. I reread Mr. Church's column every year to remind me what's important, especially as I see us straying further and further away from its ideals with every passing December.

To some of us...myself included...it recalls the joy of childhood and the wonder of surprise that someone really, really 'hears' you, 'knows' your secret desires. Some of us...myself included...still look longingly to the sky, wishing to connect just once with the heavens or at least to those far, far away. Some of us...myself included...still see in Christmas and in the aura of Santa, the hope it gives when sharing a meal, a toy, a gift with some complete stranger, especially so when that gift goes to someone in need. Some of us...myself included...would gladly give up another gift of my own to see some child or adult avoid having to go without. Some of us...myself included...know Christmas, and Santa, is more than just overpriced toys and undervalued jewelry: it's about giving the gifts that are priceless instead. It's not a single holiday; it's an infinite attitude. And some of us...myself certainly included...need to be reminded of that each and every day.

So, every year, I go outside and look heavenward and wonder if Santa will bring those gifts this year instead of his usual bounty. Some of my adult friends say that this is an useless exercise and maybe it is. But maybe it isn't, who really knows?? I still have my childhood faith and hope in Santa...or whatever you want to call him or her...and I still believe in the gifts that keep on giving.

As Mr. Church so eloquently wrote more than a century ago:

The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see.

Amen. Love, joy, respect, peace...unseen marvels all.

So, Godspeed, Santa. Godspeed. (And in more ways than one.) We happily await your arrival.

(And for those of you, young or young at heart, who want to track Santa's progress, check out this year's NORAD Santa Tracker. You can see where he's been if you click on the map button tab, and even learn about those places on small video maps that come up...I just had to look at the one with him and the Sydney Opera House. The updates are coming in about every 5 minutes or so, so far anyway. I honestly don't know what his average speed is, though, when crossing the Atlantic and I missed the Pacific crossing from the South Pacific to Asia. As I write this, he just left Monaco.)

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Not sure what the plans are for tonight, still have some minor moving to do but the new apartment has no heat in place yet, so that may be struck off the list. (Then, there is also TBS' classic '24 Hours of "A Christmas Story", too.) Tomorrow, the Wise and Wonderful Ricky (if ever a Wise Man existed and gave the present of friendship, I am his ever humble and thankful recipient) and I will have some Cornish hen, the assorted veggie or two, some Aussie wine, watermelon (the last two are as close as I can get to repeating the Christmas of 2005), and some as-of-yet undecided dessert concoction. And then "Beowulf". I am blessed, very blessed indeed.

No matter how you choose to observe your holiday (or not observe, as you wish), I hope your day (well, all of your) days are peaceful, productive, loving, and safe. Blessings and good health to you and yours as well.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!!!

Prince of the Wild Frontier

I'm in full move load-in stage right now, so the posts will be a bit infrequent for the next two weeks or so. We've had stunningly good weather as of late...in the high 70's and low 80's...so I've taken advantage of that. The new digs are slowly coming together, and none too soon. More on that later.

I happened across this story (from the wild and beautiful lands of Arkansas, no less), and just had to include it here. God, I love kids. And it's an 'only in America' kind of story, too, as hopefully the rest of the world doesn't have proud, and apparently pretty damn skilled, 5 year old 'marksmen' taking down bears more than 10 times their size.

And it gets better...the little sharpshooter is a relative of legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett, the original King of The Wild Frontier.

Quoting from KATV: (full link and even some video here)

Five Year Old Kills Bear

Dewitt - An Arkansas County boy killed a black bear Sunday weighing more than 400 pounds.

(Tre Merritt, five-year-old hunter) "I was up in the stand and I seen the bear. It came from the thicket and it was beside the road and I shot it."

Tre Merritt's grandfather was in the stand with him at the time. He says Tre did it all by himself.

(Mike Merritt, Tre’s Grandfather) "He came in about 40 to 50 yards, and when he got in the open. I whistled at him and he stopped and I said, ‘Shoot Tre.’"

And that’s just what Tre did--he fired his youth rifle.

(Mike Merritt) "I said, ‘Tre, you missed the bear.’ He said, ‘Paw-paw I squeezed the trigger and I didn’t close my eyes. I killed him."’

The bear turned out to be 445 pounds--twelve-times the size of Tre. Mike Merritt said tears rolled down his cheeks when he found out his grandson killed the enormous bear.

(Mike Merritt) "His 10th great-grandfather was Davie Crockett. And Davie supposedly killed him a bear when he was three. And Tre is five and really killed a bear. I really doubt if Davie killed one when he was three."...

And you also have to love any 5 year old kid who knows how to correctly use the word 'thicket', too. That 'seen/saw' rule will come on later in life.

Quoting Hank Williams, Jr., here: "Country folks can survive." (emphasis mine)

And how.

"Say It's Not True" by Queen + Paul Rodgers

In the midst of driving around last night after work (and yet another trip to The Home Depot® for some more new apartment items), I happened across one of the few local radio stations that is not killing me with Christmas songs (c'mon, people, four of the nine or so stations are playing 'holiday songs' most, if not all, of their broadcast time now...I'm all for celebrating the holiday, but enough already). Said radio station, the killer 96 Rock (which really needs to get streaming online, if at all possible), was playing a "new song from Queen." Yours truly, being the huge Queen fan from the single digit years, was immediately intrigued.

Now, to those of us who adored Queen, this announcement of 'new' material is somewhat of a sacrilegious statement here: Queen's front man, the fabulously entertaining tenor Freddie Mercury, died in 1991. In some fans' eyes, the band as we knew and loved died with him. With the exception of bassist John Deacon, the other surviving members (drummer Roger Taylor and lead guitarist Brian May) have soldiered on with the Queen name. They've been releasing songs since Freddie's death (and done quite a few projects to honour and remember their late friend), but here in the States these newer items have never got the attention. Instead, radio airwaves here are filled with the songs from Queen's glory days (all links go to videos posted on YouTube): "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Fat Bottom Girls", "Another One Bites the Dust", and on and on. I have to feel for the surviving band members as they clearly were, and still are, very talented: if they continue on, as they mostly have, they're criticized for 'ruining' that glorious legacy; if they don't continue on, they're wasting their abundant talents. Queen was far more than just a powerful and iconic vocalist, but that's very easy to forget sometimes, especially as Freddie was the absolute best entertainer in rock.

I admit I have been on the sidelines, watching them from afar, on this new journey for the last couple of years. They've brought on the talents of Paul Rodgers, best known as the lead singer of Bad Company, to help with vocals...but they've also been very succinct in not just throwing him in with the Queen name: it's always Queen + Paul Rodgers. For a couple of fellow Queen fans I know, that's made a difference as to whether they see the new shows or buy the new albums. Separate yet equal, or something close to that, anyway. And also to Paul Rodgers' benefit, he's went out of his way it appears to not attempt to sing like Freddie would have (which would have been an outright disaster, as Mr Rodgers has no where near the vocal range of the operatically capable Mr Mercury). The songwriting is still strong and over-the-top dramatic, the guitar riffs still soaring and full of bravado, the drums still bombastic and vengeful. But I couldn't make myself buy tickets when they rolled through here, I guess, last year: damn it, I still miss Freddie and I felt I would be cheating on that adoration.

So this new song from Queen + Paul Rodgers, "Say It's Not True", (which was written by Roger Taylor as a present for Nelson Mandela), isn't even very 'new', as it was first premiered in 2003. However, for whatever the reason now, it may get some air play over here at long last. Personally, I'd like to think it would get some traction for being released for the recently passed World Aids Day, but, there again, when that happens the song ceases to be a celebration of the new and more of a remembrance of the old: Freddie, after all, privately suffered for years and eventually died from AIDS. This is the hurdle that looms great for this band, no matter the membership: moving on to the new when the fan base to connect with can't, or won't, cut loose with their ties to the past. For good and for bad, Freddie left his stamp everywhere.

Still, I have to admit, it's a great song and another one in the Queen catalog that's poignant, thoughtful, and makes you want to learn the lyrics straightaway. I openly was singing along by the last verse as I bolted down the interstate. And, unfortunately, I also admit I was comparing the vocals of Mr Taylor and Mr Rodgers on this song to how Freddie would have delivered it. Oh, now this is a song that Mr Mercury would have shaken the rafters with back in his prime...a la "Somebody to Love". I love this 'new' song because of the message and because it's a damn good song and because I still support what is left of this magical band. But I also hate this song because all I can 'hear' is the what might have been if Freddie was still here to saunter up to the mic...and I also hate that I can't somehow 'give' Paul Rodgers a fair chance as the vocalist with them.

And, damn it, I think I'm always going to miss Freddie.

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Video from YouTube, as per my usual.
Queen + Paul Rodgers with "Say It's Not True" for 46664