Tag: entertainment

Missioned Souls – Deep Purple’s Highway Star

6:01 pm

An evening pause: Hat tip Matt in AZ, who adds,

Missioned Souls is a family band from the Philippines, playing mostly cover songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Oftentimes their musician parents will perform in the group, but here’s a good example of just the kids jamming, ranging only 11-16 years old in this 2025 studio session. They’ve got a lot of talent, and are only improving upon that as time goes on. Also, they just announced they will be touring through Texas and New Mexico this September.

There is a reason many other countries besides the U.S. celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Ordinary people everywhere have embraced its ideas, and all the joy that springs from it.

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Virginie Sigonney – Which landing is the best?

6:02 pm

An evening pause: Some silliness to start the weekend. As Sigonney notes, “The first one is definitely not the most beautiful but the coolest.”

Hat tip Mike Nelson.

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Anton Karas – Theme from the Third Man

6:01 pm

An evening pause: The movie, The Third Man (1949), was directed by Carol Reed and starred Orson Welles. This theme, played throughout, made the film something special. This live performance is from 1950. I like especially how it shows so clearly the intricate finger play.

Hat tip Wayne DeVette.

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William Shatner – Rocket Man

6:01 pm

An evening pause: Performed (mostly) live at the 1978 Saturn awards event, given out by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. Though the song is by Elton John, this performance makes it William Shatner personified.

Hat tip Mike Nelson.

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Kate Smith – God Bless America

6:01 pm

An evening pause: Though she made this Irving Berlin song her signature piece during World War II, the performance below from 1974 carries with it some grand history. In 1969 the management of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team had begun playing a recording of Smith singing God Bless America instead the Star Spangled Banner because they thought it might uplift the crowd, which seemed disinterested at the anthem at the start of games.

It worked, better than they expected. For some reason, the Flyers would win almost every time the recording was used. They didn’t do it every game, but often enough it would make a difference.

She finally did it live for them at the 1973 home opening, bringing down the house. The recording below was her fourth live appearance, and in many ways the most spectacular, game six of the Stanley Cup finals, the game in which the Flyers beat the Boston Bruins to win its first cup.

That the Flyers made Smith a non-person in 2019 for absurd accusations of racism, banning her song and removing her statue outside the stadium, was just one more example of the woke sickness and anti-Americanism from the left that too many have allowed themselves to bow to in the past decade. It is time for this to end.

Instead, it is time this weekend to celebrate the anniversary of this great country, that allows all people to flourish and pursue their dreams. As the opening verse says so poignantly:

Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.

Written by Irving Berlin, a Jewish immigrant who also embraced this free land with all his heart.

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Leo Arnaud & John Williams – Bugler’s Dream/Olympic Fanfare

6:01 pm

An evening pause: The opening theme of this piece, by Leo Arnaud, was used by ABC for its Wild World of Sports and Olympic coverage in the ’60s and 70s. John Williams later wrote a version for use for NBC’s Olympic television broadcast, incorporating Arnard’s work at the beginning. This live 2009 performance is by the Bands of His Majesty’s Royal Marines in London.

Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.

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