Here's Jimmy Dean singing one of his most famous hits: "Big John."

May he rest in peace.

It's awfully quiet out there -- I can almost hear the crickets chirping. On the probable chance that folks are enjoying their last weekend in November before the start of December and end-of-the-year rush starts, here's a little ditty by Collective Soul...aptly called "December."

I hope everyone makes it through the year alive & well; 2010 is looming large, and it's gonna be one heckuva year. In the comments below, tell us a little about your holiday weekend -- did you celebrate? What, if anything, did you give thanks for? And what kind of plans have you got for the last month of this calendar year?

Catch ya on the flip, and remember: This is an Open Thread.

And Peace Through Music
How Producer Mark Johnson put it all together.

Morning Edition, May 4, 2009 - Until a video of "Stand by Me" had gone viral on YouTube, Roger Ridley had sung and played guitar anonymously on the streets of Santa Monica, Calif., for years. The video begins with Ridley and then mixes in 40 other musicians from around the world. It's part of a 10-song collection called Playing for Change: Songs Around the World.
Producer Mark Johnson got the idea a few years ago when he heard Ridley's voice on a street in Santa Monica.
"I approached him after the performance and said, 'Hey, if I come back in an hour with some recording equipment and cameras, I'd love to record you, film you, add musicians around the world to it,' " Johnson says. "And he looked at me really funny, sort of thought I was crazy. But he said, 'OK, if you come back, we'll do it.' "..................Rest Here with Video Links to a Couple of the Songs
Brings up the NPR Player to Listen to Discussion

From the Washington Post, this rather discouraging tidbit:

A federal judge yesterday rejected the claim by a coalition of historians and nonprofit groups that Vice President Cheney intended to illegally discard some of his official records, and instead accepted the pledge of a senior White House aide that key Cheney documents and other materials will be transferred as required to the National Archives.

Emphasis mine.

Can you hear them laughing yet? Cheney even threw his back out, he was laughing so hard, and he's attending the inauguration in a wheelchair -- probably something else he'll be chuckling over, thinking that years later historians and citizens will see the poor bastard in a wheelchair and say "Oh, how can the people of the time be so mean to a decrepit old invalid?"

Well, they'll probably leave out the "decrepit" bit. Make the jump»

Pundits and commentators are often referred to as talking heads; almost as often (or perhaps far more often), they have little or nothing of substance to add to a dialogue. At least, that appears to be the general and growing trend over the past 8 years. (Or longer -- you decide.)

Talking Heads is also the name of a band.

In the table below, a collection of Talking Heads (the band) videos are compiled to relate a few interesting thoughts, in lieu of actual non-band talking heads. Consider it an Art-and-Life reflection experiment.

And a final follow-up to the "Dick Cheney Hunting Edition" (rendition?), here's the Bob Rivers parody "Cheney's Got A Gun" -- DUCK!

That's it for now.

Happy Holiday Aftermath and all that.

This is an Open Thread. Make the jump»

Is the nation moving back from the brink of ultra-right politics, into a more reasonable and freedom-and-democracy loving environment?

Possibly.

That would put us, ideally, a little "left of center" and on track for some real progress -- quite a feat after eight years of out-of-control unmitigated disasters by the Overlords of "Family Values."

Reminds me of the following tune:

What are your thoughts on the shifting political climate?

This is an Open Thread.

About the song:

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The song "From a Distance" was written in 1985 by American singer-songwriter Julie Gold. Gold was working as a secretary at the time for HBO and writing songs in her free time. [1] Gold's friend, Christine Lavin, introduced the song to Nanci Griffith who first recorded for her 1987 release, Lone Star State of Mind. It quickly became a favorite of Griffith's fans around the world. The song became an international commercial success after it was recorded in 1990 by Bette Midler for the album Some People's Lives, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and went on to win a Grammy for Song of the Year in 1991.

_____

This is an Open Thread.

The winds of change are blowing; are we numb to them?

Just thought I'd ask.

Happy Friday.