Have Yourself a Merry Little 2017; New York Times, 12/24/16

Bruce Handy, New York Times; Have Yourself a Merry Little 2017:

"The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has used the original lyrics before, including on the 2015 album “Big Band Holidays,” so it’s not as if someone fished them out of the trunk 72 years later to make a tart postelection point. I’m also well aware that our current challenges pale in comparison to fighting a world war with civilization in the balance. Let’s say we are somewhere on a continuum between that and facing a move from St. Louis to New York. Still, I have to confess the “it may be your last” line captured my near-apocalyptic mood — and maybe yours as well.

But the lyric that moved me to tears is the line that follows “If the fates allow” (and remained in Martin’s final lyrics):

Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow.

How prosaic, even homely as pre-rock era songwriting goes, and yet how perfect. Muddling through, somehow, may not sound particularly inspirational, but perseverance is often the best option at hand, when just moving forward, one inch or foot or yard at a time, can be a kind of heroism. At least that’s how it struck me listening to Ms. Russell, her deeply felt performance offering a subdued and cleareyed but still genuine optimism...

In “Meet Me in St. Louis,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is the catalyst for a happy ending: Tootie’s backyard rampage prompts her father to change his mind about the move, and we cut to a dazzling climax at the 1904 World’s Fair, electric lights and handsome beaus suggesting a fine future for all. Happy endings seem a little more remote in 2016 — miles away, as they say, or at least as distant as the next election. In the meantime, we muddle through. It’s a start."

Gold Star Family Says It Was Booed By First-Class Passengers On Flight To Pick Up Son’s Body; Huffington Post, 11/20/16

Ed Mazza, Huffington Post; Gold Star Family Says It Was Booed By First-Class Passengers On Flight To Pick Up Son’s Body:

"Sgt. John Perry was killed on Nov. 12 in a suicide attack inside Bagram Airfield, a NATO base in Afghanistan. Pfc. Tyler R. Iubelt of Tamaroa, Illinois, and two civilian contractors were also killed, and 17 others wounded.

Perry said his son was able to stop the bomber before he reached his target, a 5K race held inside the base...

Perry, himself a veteran, called on the public to be more empathetic to the military and their family members.

“Generally, as Americans, we need to be more compassionate to each other and to understand and listen and just stay calm,” he told the Army Times."

Hodor on Hodor: Kristian Nairn Discusses His ‘Game of Thrones’ Fate; New York Times, 5/24/16

Jeremy Egner, New York Times; Hodor on Hodor: Kristian Nairn Discusses His ‘Game of Thrones’ Fate:

"The twist, which recast a figure of fun into a tragic hero, sparked an emotional online outpouring that has continued unabated, at times crossing creatively into the real world. Even David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators of the show, called it one of the most shocking revelations they ever received from George R.R. Martin, who writes the books the series is based on and conceived the details of Hodor’s origin.

[SPOILER BELOW]

“There’s a very nice thing going around the Internet that says, ‘Not all heroes hold weapons, some hold doors,’ ” Kristian Nairn, the 6-foot-11 Irish actor who played him, said on Tuesday. “He is a hero now, but I think he always was, in his own way.”"