To sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock,
In a pestilential prison, with a life-long lock,
Awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock,
From a cheap and chippy chopper on a big black block!
W.S. Gilbert
Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah, and Pish-Tush contemplate losing their heads.
From The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan.
People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.
The next time the man on the white horse comes in, he may not be so benign. He could be a real racial hater or a divider of people.
Jim Squires, one-time spokesperson for Ross Perot.
Squires made the comment after the 1992 U.S. election, which showed that millions of Americans were ready to go crazy for a thin-skinned, TV-adept billionaire who promised to shake things up in Washington, D.C.
Quoted in The Red and the Blue: The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism,
by Steve Kornacki (p. 209)
… he perceived that Providence, since the days of Job always curious to know just how much a good man can bear, had sent Ronald Overbury Fish to add to his troubles.
… up Canada way.
I think that it was just as they were singing like this: “O–Can-a-da”, that word went round that the boat was sinking.
Stephen Leacock
The Marine Excursion of the Knights of Pythias
Happy Canada Day, everyone.
The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, Fairytale of New York. Christmas dreams, shattered and otherwise. Grubby lyrics and soaring music. Tenderness and hope – which, after all, is what Christmas is all about.
Merry Christmas. And a tip of the tuque to Walt Kelly, who loved Christmas.
Half Man Half Biscuit, It’s Clichéd to be Cynical at Christmas. Half Man Half Biscuit stand firm against the forces of Christmas snark.
Louis Armstrong, ‘Zat You, Santa Claus? Just, uh, slip the presents under the door, Santa.
“Weird Al” Yankovic, Christmas at Ground Zero. Duck and cover with your Yuletide lover.
John Legend and Stephen Colbert, Nutmeg. Ladies, Mr. John Legend wants to nog your egg.
