Clean Lines, No Capes

A really messed up situation in Oakland. Group of young men fighting on BART. BART officers break up the fight, take the men off the BART and begin handcuffing them. As one of them, Oscar Grant, is on the ground and being subdued by what looks like 3 officers, one of them gets up, draws his gun and shoots Oscar in the back – while he’s pinned down on the ground by the other officers! Oscar later dies.

Video shot on cell phones here

It’s not an easy thing to watch, knowing you’re seeing a young man about to be killed and then the shooting is actually captured on the phone video. You don’t see much other than the officer stand and draw his weapon. You can hear the shot and see the other officers who were subduing Oscar jump back.

I mean…it’s not clear whether Oscar was one of the men fighting or not. But even if he was, there was no need for this. The cops were on the scene in force. They had subdued and handcuffed many other young men already. Oscar appeared to be willing to cooperate (his hands are up in the air at one point before the cops get him face down). And then in an instant, his life is gone.

There’s something drastically wrong with that.

Ron Asheton, guitarist for The Stooges, dead at 60.

Bah.  I missed posting this final Santa pic.  Maybe it was because I wanted to block it from my mind.  I mean..this guy is freakin’ SCARY looking!  Seriously!  Look at him.  Serial Killer for sure.

1980.  At first glance, you wouldn’t think this Santa is such a bad guy, really.  But his friendly appearance hides a dark, dark secret.

That’s right, this “santa” is really an alien!  The lack of visible mouth is a dead giveaway.  That, and those eyes.  And, you know, the thing about an alien… he’s got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll’s eyes.

So yeah, sure, he looks all jolly and good.  But I know his secret.  It’s out now.  Alien Santa must be stopped!

So my mom dug up 5 old Christmas photos taken when we still lived in Illinois.  The years represented are 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981.  These are years when Santas were still…well….interesting looking.  Let’s face it.  These days, every mall in the country is looking to hire the best and most realistic looking Santa they can find.  Typically they’re older men, with a real white beard and moustache.  In fact, they’re probably professional Santas.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  In fact, I love it!  I love seeing how good the Santa at South Coast Plaza looks in comparison to the one at the Mission Viejo Mall (they’re both good, by the way). 

Anyway, I’d guess that the majority of these photos were taken at Marshall Field’s – it was THE place to go during Christmas in Chicago.  I’ll post ‘em chronologically over the next 5 days, starting today.  And with that….

The “Get-Me-Out-Of-Here” Santa

The year was 1975.  Chet, from the Accounting Department, was new that year and needed the extra cash.  He had never liked kids all that much, but the money was going to help him get his Christmas drunk on, and besides, that Rebecca from Human Resources was cute in her Santa’s Helper outfit.  Yeah, that’s right cutie, I’m lookin’ at you.  Maybe we can hook up after I get this damn kid off my lap. Hit the disco, add in a little “snow” to get us going, and maybe I can show you my North Pole.  Knowwhatimean?

Meanwhile, there sits little Jeffrey, oblivious to the fact that Santa is lookin’ to jump Rebecca’s bones.

Apparently he also felt the need to bring a chrome-plated handgun to work.  If that’s not a gun on the bench next to him, then my name isn’t Harvey Wallbanger.  Wait…it isn’t Harvey.  Or Wallbanger for that matter.

So the other day I’m just perusing through iTunes looking for some Christmas music for a CD I was putting together for my wife. And I happen upon this album called This Warm December, which is a compilation of artists under the Brushfire label. There’s some great music on there – Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer by Jack Johnson, and Silent Night by Zach Gill being two standouts. And then there’s a song called “No Christmas for Me” by Zee Avi. I can’t embed her original video on YouTube, but go check it out, I’ll wait while you do.

Go on! Get over to YouTube and check it out!

If you’re refusing to go to YouTube, as I mentioned, I can’t embed “No Christmas for Me”, but I can embed some of her other stuff. So here’s her cover of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile”:

She’s got an awesome voice and is a talented songwriter – “No Christmas for Me” is her original work – I’d totally rank it up there as one of my favorite Christmas songs. And the rest of her stuff is just as good.