Non-baseball items, part II Showing 1-50 of 1,338

[Lance]

For all your non-baseball talk, go here.

[C. John]

Well here is my first contribution to this thread. Another selection from the musical Advent calender

California Raisins: Jingle Bell Rock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM2T9...
I daresay that if I mentioned the California Raisins to my kids I would get blank looks.

[C. John]

The following is taken from the Guardian. It is from a larger column on New Year's Resolutions but since this bit concerns reading I thought some might get a kick out of it. The writer is Tim Dowling, one of their columnists.

"I’ve learned there is simply no point in negotiating with future you – this person who no longer shares your goal to write a play, or to read 50 books in a year. Don’t let their failure be your failure. Besides: if you only manage to read nine books in 2025, you’ll still be nine books less stupid than you were in 2024."

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

C. John wrote: "The following is taken from the Guardian. It is from a larger column on New Year's Resolutions but since this bit concerns reading I thought some might get a kick out of it. The writer is Tim Dowli..."

Great quote!

[C. John]

According to the emails I am reading both drivers in yesterday's terror attacks were American citizens and members or former members of the armed forces. Does that mean if you want your child to become a terrorist make sure they enlist in the armed forces. Somehow I don't think that makes sense.

[C. John]

Wayne Osmond of the The Osmond Brothers has passed away, age 73, Cause of death was a massive stroke. Here's a clip of the brothers. I have no idea which one is Wayne.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4tGK...

[Lance]

Second oldest of the Osmonds. Without their instruments I am not sure as I knew Wayne was primarily a guitarist

[C. John]

The Economist has published an article arguing that Canada should join the European Union. That would prove interesting. Might not be a bad idea actually.

[C. John]

Getting near the end I promise you. Today we have Jingle Bells by the World Vision Korean (Children's) Choir. This one is short but it is from the Ed Sullivan Show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVLFq...

[C. John]

If you are familiar with the Thomas the Tank Engine television show then you will probably be sad at the news that the producer of the show, Britt Allcroft, has passed away. She was 91.

[Peggyzbooksnmusic]

C. John wrote: "If you are familiar with the Thomas the Tank Engine television show then you will probably be sad at the news that the producer of the show, Britt Allcroft, has passed away. She was 91."

Our sons loved that show! At one time both Ringo Starr and George Carlin were narrators.

[C. John]

Ringo Starr narrated both the versions seen in the US and the UK. When he left PBS had Carlin narrating the US version but someone else did the narration for the UK. I am not sure why this was the case though I suspect it was a case of a British accent being too strong for the US market.

[C. John]

Getting to the end now. Today's track is

Beau Soleil: Pappa St. Nick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-sux...

Until I heard this song I had no idea there were Cajun elves.

[C. John]

This may be of interest to Brina. The Bulls have announced that they will be retiring Derrick Rose’s jersey. Never again will be anyone be number 1 on the team.

[Lance]

And to me as an NBA fan. Too bad injuries cut his productivity down after that MVP season. He played with my Timberwolves late in his career and he had one game where he scored 50 points in one of the more memorable games in the team”s history

[C. John]

Here is the link for the Daily Mirror Pub Quiz. I think I would choose the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special over Gavin and Stacey.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/play/quizzes...

[C. John]

The penultimate selection is Soul Cake by Sting (singer not wrestler)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu8H5...

[C. John]

This was in my spam folder. I had to laugh when I read it.

I'm Donald Trump the President of the United States, I know you maybe astonished on my notification, actually your funds was brought under my care for an approval before it will be transferred to you, but I have decided to handle the transaction of these funds by myself after the investigation carried out which I acknowledged that you haven't received your $11.4 million dollars as a compensation which others have received theirs. so I decided to handle the transaction in order to assure the successful handling and also to make sure that these funds get to you directly, and we assure you that you will receive these funds as long as you follow up with my instructions.

[C. John]

My reference to Sting the wrestler made me go searching through YouTube. I found this clip from 1986 which has Sting taking on Steve "Dr. Death" Williams. This was in the old UWF, and yes Sting is the heel in this bout while Williams is the face.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnLdx...

[C. John]

Last wrestling post (today). This one also from UWF and has a heel Sting taking on Cowboy Bill Watts. A couple of notes, the Korchenko that Eddie Gilbert refers to was Kortis Korchenko, a "Russian" wrestler Gilbert had been managing who had finally been run out of town by Watts and his allies Steve Williams and Ted DiBiase. Rock was Sting's partner in the Bladerunners tagteam, also managed by Gilbert. Rock would later be known as the Ultimate Warrior. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyfRl...

[C. John]

Jerod Mayo coaches the Patriots to a win and gets fired for his efforts. As the saying goes "There oughta be a law."

[C. John]

It is expected that Justin Trudeau will be tendering his resignation in the next few days. However although it is expected he is resigning as leader of the Liberal Party it is not known if he will be resigning as Prime Minister. He could stay on as PM until his successor as party leader is chosen. This sort of freezes the attempts to bring down the government as there is sort of a convention up here that you don't call or force an election when one of the parties is in the middle of a leadership change.

[C. John]

Presenting the last song of this season's musical advent calendar.

The Roving Apatosaurus: Snow Miser/Heat Miser
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jt95...

Today is Epiphany so this is the end of this Christmas seasons musical extravaganza. See you Christmas 2025 when we will do it again. Now did I just make a promise or a threat.

[C. John]

Made a playlist out of all the songs included in the calender and that is what I am listening to.

[C. John]

I have a couple of videos regarding Sweet Daddy Siki for your viewing pleasure. I remember watching Siki on Maple Leaf Wrestling, which was the television show for the Toronto Promotion. The following clip though is from the Atlantic area. Siki is a heel here but in Toronto he was generally a face. I did come across a clip from Toronto with Siki taking on Fred Atkins but it was in black and white and Siki really needs to be seen in colour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly5Hx...

Siki also had a career as a country singer. Here he is doing the song Jambalaya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAjA9...

[C. John]

Will now that Christmas music is more or less a wrap time to look at what my profile tells me. First up is the top twenty artists. No real surprises here.

1. Trans-Siberian Orchestra
2. Mannheim Steamroller
3. Bing Crosby
4. Mediaeval Baebes
5. Straight No Chaser
6. Boston Pops Orchestra
7. U.S. Air Force Airmen of Note
8. Andy Williams
9. Perry Como
10. Michael Buble
11. Tony Bennett
12. Oscar Peterson
13. Winter Harp Ensemble
14. Ella Fitzgerald
15. Dave Brubeck
16. Gene Autry
17. The Temptations
18. The Beach Boys
19. The Monkees (they did release a Christmas album)
20. Amy Grant

[C. John]

Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary has passed away. He was 86.

[C. John]

Apparently Elon Musk has expressed some interest in purchasing Liverpool, the Football team not the city. Given the way he has been insulting the British lately, or at least some of them, I am not sure he is going to be able to do that.

[C. John]

Going to be interesting how this new (and new-fangled) Tomorrow's Golf League (TGL) does,

[C. John]

I posted the top artists earlier from my Spotfy account. Thought I might do something different, which I haven't done before, and post the top songs.

1. What is Christmas (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Rock (Mannheim Steamroller)
3. Let it Snow (US Airforce Airmen of Note)
4. Politically Correst Christmas (Metropolitan Melinda)
5. Do They Know It's Christmas - 1984 version (Band Aid)
6. Christmas Night in Harlem (Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra)
7. Who Spiked the Egg Nog? (Straight No Chaser)
8. Takin' Care of Christmas (Randy Bachman and Beverly Mahood)
9. Sing Hosana, Hallelujah (New Christy Minstrels)
10. Gaudete (Mediaeval Baebes)
11. Deck the Halls (Mannheim Steamroller)
12. Hot Chocolate (Tom Hanks)
13. Soul Cake (Sting)
14. A Spaceman Came Traveling (Chris de Burgh)
15. Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
16. To Christmas! (The Drining Song) (Straight No Chaser)
17. Any Mummers Allowed In? (Simani)
18. Christmas Must Be Tonight (Ronnie Hawkins)
19. What Child is This? (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
20. Yesterday's Christmas (Bobby Sherman)

Ant that is that. The list on Spotify is actually fifty songs but I think twenty is sufficient to list.

[C. John]

NHL player and coach Al MacNeil has passed away at age 89.

[C. John]

Apparently the UK's Foreign Office has a wine cellar, which I was not aware of. The current value of said cellar is 3.8 million pounds.

[C. John]

The transfer window in the UK has recently opened and the biggest news is that Man U have put just about the whole team up for sale. I know the new manager wants to retool but methinks this is taking things to the extreme. Only one player is not included in all this and that is because he is going to be signing a new long-term contract.

[C. John]

Sam Moore, who was half of Sam and Dave has passed away at age 89.

[C. John]

Scrolling through one of the newsletters from the UK I get and there was an item on the show Dancing on Ice. It concerned the British duo Torvill and Dean. Apparently this upcoming season will be the last one where they appear on the show in a skating capacity though they will still be judges. They also still tour but they will be stopping those after this year as well. Given that Torvill is 67 and Dean 66 It doesn't come as a suprise. In fact Dean has said they are too old to continue skating. I remember watching them on television when they at their peak. I had two sisters who were avid figure skaters so that isn't surprising.

[C. John]

Oh yes, happy National Milk Day.

[C. John]

From the New York Post an article on whether Eli Manning should go into the Football Hall of Fame on his first attempt or if he belongs there at all. All I can say is that of all the players then mentioned who are on the current ballot his is the only name I recognize.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/11/sports/...

[Lance]

C. John wrote: "From the New York Post an article on whether Eli Manning should go into the Football Hall of Fame on his first attempt or if he belongs there at all. All I can say is that of all the players then m..."

The only one of the 15 I didn’t recognize is Marshal Yanda, but really only very hard core fans know offensive linemen outside of their own team. Of the 5 new ones, only Vinateri belongs IMO. Manning doesn’t belong at all - heck in one of his two SB wins, he shouldn’t have even been considered the MVP - that was Justin Tuck on the Giants’ defensive line. Of the returning players, since a minimum of 5 must be inducted per that Hall of Fame’s rules, I would choose both Allens, Anderson, Wayne and Woodson.

[Lance]

C. John wrote: "I posted the top artists earlier from my Spotfy account. Thought I might do something different, which I haven't done before, and post the top songs.

1. What is Christmas (Trans-Siberian Orchestra..."

Lots of good ones here.

[C. John]

Here is the link for this weeks Mirror Pub Quiz. I did worse than last week.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/play/quizzes...

[C. John]

Lance wrote: "C. John wrote: "I posted the top artists earlier from my Spotfy account. Thought I might do something different, which I haven't done before, and post the top songs.

1. What is Christmas (Trans-Si..."

Going to have to correlate this list with the Advent Calender. See what songs to use this coming Christmas. But that is a ways away.

[C. John]

The following headline appeared in one of my newsletters from the Telegraph. Unfortunately The Telegraph has a paywall so that is all I was able to read. Now if it was The Mirror or the Guardian

Trendy pizzeria charges £100 for a Hawaiian to discourage customers from divisive topping

It just so happens that my oldest son loves Hawaiian Pizza.

[C. John]

Apparently Toad in the Hole stormed off the set of The Masked Singer in the UK after being eliminated.

[C. John]

All this talk of Canada becoming the 51st state reminded me of a novel, Exxoneration, that came out in the early seventies. It starts off with the US invading Canada expecting to face no opposition. It doesn't go well. We blow one plane off the tarmac at Pearson International Airpot and are quite capable of doing the same to the rest of the air fleet. After the invaders have left we then get to the meat of the book which is all about Petro Canada taking over Exxon. If I remember correctly, and it has been fifty years since I read it, we end up getting Saudi help to seal the deal. Here is a link for the entry on Goodreads for the book.

[C. John]

Listening to a song entitled "Grandpa got Run Over by a Hybrid". For some reason Spotify has decided my Discover Weekly playlist should be loaded with Christmas music.

[C. John]

Had to laugh just now. Looking at one of the newsletters from CNN. Noticed at the top is a spot to click if I want the newsletter translated to English. I always thought English was what you used down there, although Henry Higgins would disagree. Looks like English to me.

[C. John]

Here is something to think about. The 2028 Summer Olympics are in Los Angeles.

[C. John]

The horror movie “Screamboat” will be opening in April of this year. I have no intention of seeing it.

[C. John]

British boxer Tyson Fury is retiring at age 36.

[Lance]

C. John wrote: "British boxer Tyson Fury is retiring at age 36."

He and Deonte Wilder had a trio of great fights. At 36 I didn’t think he’d be around much longer. Unless of course Usyk offers him a bout then he’ll come out of retirement like nearly every other boxer