U. S. Army Band – Bugler’s Holiday
An evening pause: Seems somehow right for the start of a new year. Enthusiastic and hopeful, as much of American music of the past was.
Hat tip Tom Biggar.
Category: The Evening Pause
A nightly pause from the news to give the reader/viewer a bit of classic entertainment.
Auld Land Syne – Freedom mix
An evening pause: This mix was apparently put together just after 9/11, and includes many of the most iconic sound-bites from the 20th century. One of the last lines however must speak to the new 21st century, as it appears many Americans have forgotten what it means to be an American.
“We’re not gonna be stopped! We’re not gonna be deterred! We’re not gonna stay at home! We’re not gonna be afraid!
“We’re gonna live our lives as Americans!”
God bless. Let us work to return freedom to America in 2021.
Straight No Chaser – Auld Lang Syne
An afternoon pause: To all my readers, supporters, and even those who disagree with me, may you all have a much better year in 2021 than you did in 2020.
With good will and hope for the future, Happy New Year!
Verdi – Libiamo ne’ lieti calici
An evening pause: I have never been a fan of opera, but this piece by Verdi is truly beautiful and fun to watch.
Hat tip Jim Mallamace, who also notes its opulence.
Simpals Animation Studio – Dji Death Sails
Joan Baez – Diamonds And Rust
Alan Jackson – Amazing Grace
An evening pause: This most famous of all gospel songs seems appropriate for Christmas day. Note the humbleness of the words. To be humble means you recognize your imperfection, and can address it with grace.
Hat tip Mike Nelson.
Kathy Mattea – Mary did you know
An evening pause: This song honoring Jesus I think really speaks of every child born on Earth, and how every parent should see them. As Wordsworth said, they come “trailing clouds of glory.”
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kissed your little baby then you kissed the face of god.
Hat tip Diane Zimmerman.
Anna Weatherup – Be Thou My Vision
An evening pause: It all depends on how you define God. To me, God is the entire universe, of which I am part. To recognize such a reality is terribly humbling, and leads to wisdom.
Billy Preston – You Can’t Beat God Giving
An evening pause: Feel the joy and good will. We should all feel this way, all the time.
Hat tip Cotour.
Werner Klemperer & John Banner – Silent Night
An evening pause: Silent Night is followed by Robert Clary singing a French carol. All three were actors from the 1960s television comedy series, Hogan’s Heroes, with Klemperer playing the Nazi prison commander, Banner the foolish guard (“I know nothing!!!”), and Clary the French prisoner.
I don’t know exactly when this aired, but it was likely in the late 1960s. It signals the good will fundamental to western civilization. The Germans had only two decades earlier put the world through a horrible war. Still, Americans were glad to hear two Germans immigrants sing this gentle song in their native language, despite the evils that nation had subjected the world to so recently.
The war was over. We are all fallible humans. Time to forgive, and move on.
Hat tip Phill Oltmann.
The Piano Guys – Emmanuel
An evening pause: I think this makes for a nice start of this year’s set of Christmas season evening pauses.
Note that though this piece is available on youtube, I specifically chose to embed it from Vimeo. It is time to no longer rely solely on google, if at all possible.
Ambosspolka
An evening pause: Hat tip Jim Malamace, who correctly notes that “The ‘electric cords’ on the hammers are hilarious and fitting because the hammer impacts actually caused sparks.”
Royal Guardsmen – Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron
Voorhees Choir – Three Hanukkah Songs
An evening pause: This week is Hannukkah. Three songs to celebrate the lit candle that did not burn out.
Glenn Yarbrough – Baby The Rain Must Fall
Henry V arrowhead removal
Elise Trouw – The Girl from Ipanema
The Diamonds – Little Darlin’
BouzoukXp – Belenos
Pearl Harbor: The Last Word
A evening pause: On the anniversary of Japan’s unprovoked sneak attack on the United States, let’s hear what it was like to be a sailor on the U.S. battleships sunk during that attack, from interviews recorded four years ago for the 75th anniversary of the attack.
And did I mention it was an unprovoked sneak attack? The Japanese of that time brought the war upon themselves. Hiroshima and Nagasaki was their fault, not ours.
I wonder, would today’s Americans have the will to win, for freedom and the rule of law, as 1940s Americans did? Based on our response to 9/11, I think not. Based on our terror of a flu-like illness today, I know not. The tragedy of this is beyond words.
Mark Felton – Flying a glider across the Atlantic during World War II
An evening pause: In anticipation of the anniversary Monday of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, this story of one of World War II’s many desperate and sometimes crazy ideas, many of which actually made sense. All took amazing courage, as this story illustrates.
Hat tip Tom Biggar.
Nandi Bushell – Rock and Grohl
An evening pause: The musical talent and passion are both outstanding. The shallow philosophy, when compared to Aristotle or Plato or Moses (to list only a few), is kind of sad to watch. She really believes that life is that simple. As a child such shallow passion is fine. I fear however that in the arriving dark age no one will ever do anything to make her think more deeply.
Hat tip Mike Nelson.
Wendy Law – Comparing cellos: Bach Cello Suite No. 1
An evening pause: She plays the same Bach piece on three different cellos, valued respectively at $5,000, $180,000, and a $1 million. Can you tell any difference, and if so, which do you like the best?
Hat tip Phill Oltman.
Tor Andre Børresen – Norway by drone
An evening pause: If you don’t like the cold, or have a fear of heights, then this video is your best way for seeing the natural wonders of Norway.
Hat tip Phill Oltmann.
Mark Korven & Tony Duggan-Smith – The Apprehension Engine
WWII Russian POW remembers the Americans who helped him
Frank Sinatra – The House I Live In
An evening pause: I posted this short film back on July 4, 2019 to celebrate what America stood for. Today I post it on Thanksgiving to remind this increasingly oppressed nation what we should want, and be thankful for. If you replace the religious bigotry condemned in this movie with that of today’s political bigotry, the differences vanish. My intro from that July 4th evening pause,
———————–
[T]he news is filled with depressing outrages from ignorant social justice warriors who have no knowledge at all about the just and noble roots that founded the United States, I think it necessary to post this magnificent song performed by Frank Sinatra.
Written and produced in 1945, as World War II was ending, the short film tried to encapsulate in one short song the true meaning of the American experiment. This version below includes the lead-in scene to show the context for the song, as sung in the film. Some might find that opening overly preachy, but in the context of World War II and the recent discovery then of the Nazi death camps, it is heartfelt, real, and quite accurate. Please watch it all, and recognize this is what the United States — now being condemned routinely by leftist hate-mongers — is really about.
The song begins by asking, “What is America to me?” It answers it clearly in the final verse:
The town I live in
The street, the house, the room
The pavement of the city
Or a garden all in bloom
The church, the school, the clubhouse
The million lights I see
But especially the people
that’s American to me. [emphasis mine]
And that means all the people, not just those who agree with you.
———————
Buster Keaton – Elevator chase
An evening pause: Some funny silliness from the silent movie era. And if you don’t know who Buster Keaton was, it is time you found out.
Hat tip Cotour.
Chiquita Banana – The original commercial
An evening pause: This will not mean anything to my younger readers, but this song and commercial seared itself into the brains of everyone who went to the movies or watched television in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. The first version, shown here, was produced by Disney for the United Fruit Company.
I can think of no reason not to sear this song into some new generations.
Hat tip David Nudelman.