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.

Sir Francis Drake - A lesson in persistence

Sir Francis Drake, that name sounds vaguely familiar if you have studied any history of England and its mighty naval fleet of the 1500 and 1600's. Francis Drake was the first Englishman to sail around the world and the key leader in destroying the dreaded Spanish Armada.

Francis Drake never gave up, he is a true lesson in persistence. See, he failed on a voyage, and it cost him dearly. He never forgot that failure, and he used it as his weapon and reason for much of what he did and accomplished.

The Spanish destroyed one of the ships he sailed, but he survived. He was financially held responsible for the loss of several ships, however, he never forgot the loss. He vowed to recover the loss from the Spaniards, and made it his business to go after the wealth they were shipping from South America and other places. Eventually, he conquered enough and accomplished enough to be knighted.

Now, he is not the perfect example of a person engaged in 100% legitimate activities, but you gotta respect the man for persistence and seriously knocking out one of the greatest naval fleets ever (that of the Spanish Armada).