PC Watch (part 4) - Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Bikes, Lights , a Sledder/everystockphoto.com

Mid-January. Mid-winter. 

And in some parts of the country....

Cold...

And a popular song from the 1940s expresses that sentiment.

Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Here is a clip when it was performed for the big screen in Neptune's Daughter (1949):

(reference: https://youtu.be/7MFJ7ie_yGU )

Yet, in 2018 this song had been branded as Not Politically Correct. A song of sexual harassment, to be banned as part of the #MeToo movement.

  ( reference: 'Baby, It's Cold Outside,' Seen As Sexist, Frozen Out By Radio Stations )

Many radio stations caved. Agreed not to play it.

Some did anyway. Like WAKY (who repeated the song over and over for many hours.) And this oldie made a comeback in many markets.

So there!

Cold?

Everyone stay calm!

Just the sight of this fireplace could melt many "Snowflakes."

( reference: https://youtu.be/RDfjXj5EGqI )

Play this for endless hours. 
For those cold, cold days.
And there's no carbon footprint. 

For now, it's safe from the virtue signalers and scolds. 

Be warm and be safe.

Peace.

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Previous post in this series:

PC Watch (part 1) - Political Correctness (2013)

PC Watch (part 2) - The South Park Offense (2013)

PC Watch (part 3) - Too Weak to Live with Freedom?  (2014) 

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Photo:  Bikes, Lights , a Sledder/everystockphoto.com

Pop Culture (part 4) - Brrrr! ... California Dreamin'

ND Blizzard/wikipedia.com

Bomb Cyclone!

Sounds kind of cool.
But wickedly cold and scary.

That's is one the latest descriptions of the cold weather that has hit the North East in early 2018. {reference: Winter storm 2018: almost the entire East Coast is covered in snow }

So cold, Niagara Falls has seemed to freeze.

As shown below:

(reference: https://youtu.be/znhhQ9obTi0 )

The Mamas and The Papas tapped into this longing for warmth in their hit, California Dreamin' (1965)  ... on such a winter's day.

So say the lyrics
 California Dreamin' 
by John and Michelle Phillips

Another sunny group, The Beach Boys, gives their haunting rendition in this remix:

( reference: https://youtu.be/Oe3VBoE3g4k )

Even on winter days,
the sun will come out. 

Spring is coming.

So is the cycle of life. 

As bad days will come to pass, 

and sunnier days are ahead.

Be safe, my friends.

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Previous Post in the series:

Pop Culture (part 1) - Only Time and 9/11 (2015)

Pop Culture (part 2) - Halloween Martian Invasion (2015)
   
Pop Culture (part 3) - It's Gonna Be All Right  (2016)

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Photo: ND Blizzard/wikipedia.com

Poetry (part 1) - Snow

snow/everystockphoto.com

As I'm looking out my window this bright January day, I see a blanket of snow.

Thinking analytically, snow's fundamental element is the snowflake. To the eye of the beholder, snowflakes may be beautiful. But are they unique?

As seen in the clip below, science and history has much to say about snow and snowflakes.

(reference: https://youtu.be/fUot7XSX8uA )

But chance and physics do not take away the snowflake's fleeting beauty. Often it's hard to find the words that describe the wonder of nature. And that's when the arts, such as poetry, take off.

Almost thirty years ago, I wrote a poem about winter, pondering a scene, such as what I'm looking at now:

Snow

Clean and bright

The winter scene

Pearly snow 

Is everywhere seen 

Yet the snow 

Is still not pure 

Formed from dust 

Like mortals, here 

Dust is woven

Crocheted to snow

And robes the world

From heaven, below 

Frozen and still

The sleepy land

Under snowy blankets

Till Spring, again 

S. K. Smith 

(c) November 1986

So starts another thread - Poetry. 

And on this poetic note, may I leave with this thought about the Creator:

For He saith to the snow,

Be thou on earth; ...

Job 37:6 (KJV)

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Other posts on this subject:

ELM (part 3) - St. Crispin's Day Battles in English History and Literature (2013)

Touching the Face of God ... (2011) 

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photo: snow/everystockphoto.com

Music (part 1) - Winter

Northern Lights/everystock.com

Music predates history...  

One of the oldest pieces of literature is the Book of Job. Most likely the oldest book in the Bible, the back and forth dialog between Job and his miserable comforters end on this note when the Lord finally speaks:

Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation
...

while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels shouted for joy?

Job 38:4, 9 (NIV)

The singing stars...

Music is woven into creation before it came into our consciousness. Volumes have been written on this subject, but the clip below gives a good introduction:

(reference:  https://youtu.be/V1l_RNJtiPc )

As I start this new thread, it's winter... 

In the spirit of the season, Antonio Vivaldi composed Winter.

Below the piece is played in the background of beautiful winter scenes. It's where the audio and visual meet in the rhythm of life and existence.

(reference: https://youtu.be/Pgs_zB6Et2Q )

For more information on this composer and this work, check out:

* Antonio Vivaldi - BAROQUE COMPOSERS AND MUSICIANS

* The  Four Seasons - Work by Vivaldi  

And on this note...

Music is a moral law.
It gives soul to the universe,
wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination,
and charm
and gaiety
to life
and to everything.

Plato

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Other posts on music:

Nostalgia (part 5) - Big Band and World War II (2015)
 
Pray4America (part 16) - God Bless America, 1938 (2014) 
 
Culture 101 (part 10) - Summertime! x 3 (2013) 
 
America's Story (part 5) - Amazing Grace (2012) 

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photo:  Northern Lights/everystock.com