General Sherman

I have always been fascinated by the leaders of the Civil War, not just the North, but also the South. In this instance, I am highlighting General Sherman, who has a reputation of steamrolling the south, basically leaving a path of destruction as he moved deeper south towards the end of the war.

In the end, he did rout out the enemy, and took Atlanta and later Savannah. I thought it was interesting that he held to his convictions about war, which he basically said is "Hell". He did not glorify war at all. He realized that destruction and cruelty were part of the war and that war itself could not be refined.

I think I would characterize General Sherman as a wise man, who used strategy, and stern measures to complete his objectives. 

Who was St. Nick?

Thought I would share an interesting story about St. Nicholas. One of the interesting things is that the story of St. Nicholas has survived so long. St. Nicholas a 4th century Bishop of Myra.  He was reputed to have worked many miracles and is the patron saint of many different groups. I was simply amazed at the number of works he accomplished in his life, and that he had such an impact on the lives others.

This is a short article about St Nick that I found, but also I provide a link to Wikipedia as it is a very detailed account of his life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas

A Charlie Brown Christmas

One of the most memorable parts about growing up was watching Charles Schultz' "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Many of you probably remember this wonderful program and story. Do you remember the music?

There are two very famous pieces in the program, performed by Vince Guaraldi. One of the instrumentals is called "Linus and Lucy", and other one is called "Christmas Time is Here". I never knew anything about the composer, and just recently learned it was Vince Guaraldi.  Linus and Lucy is such a catchy song, just about everyone remembers it.

Anyway, I wanted to share an article about the composer that I recenty read. I think this is another story of persistence, which has kind of the been the theme of this and last article I posted.

We all need to remember to keep on keeping on, even in the face of many obstacles.

Check out the Vince Guaraldi Website here: http://www.vinceguaraldi.com/

Or pick up the music for "A Charlie Brown Christmas from Amazon."


From an article adapted from PETE BARLAS, Posted 12/22/2010

Vince Guaraldi made a habit of beating the odds.He overcame the effects of a broken home, the Great Depression, a wartime sickness, a near-debilitating injury and early career misfires to become one of the world's most acclaimed jazz composers and pianists prior to his death at age 47.

Although Guaraldi (1928-76) appeared on more than 50 albums as solo artist and sideman, he is perhaps best known for providing the music for 16 Peanuts cartoon TV specials that aired from 1965 and 1976.

Guaraldi's instrumental compositions such as "Linus & Lucy" and "Christmas Time Is Here" pumped up "A Charlie Brown Christmas," the first holiday TV special from Peanuts creator Charles Schultz. Those tunes keep the Charlie Brown show alive at Christmas to this day, says Lee Mendelson, Peanuts' executive producer and former Guaraldi collaborator.