How about some of that old Christmas spirit?

I've been thinking about a lot of the old Christmas songs and the way they have of evoking such a happy, warm Christmas spirit. Just think of the melodies and the words to songs like:

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose, yuletide carols being sung by a choir, and folks dressed up like Eskimoes. . . . Although it's been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas to you."

"City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style. In the air there's a feeling of Christmas. Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile, And on every street corner you hear: Silver bells, silver bells, It's Christmas time in the city. Ring-a-ling, hear them ring, soon it will be Christmas day."

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know. Where the treetops glisten and children listen, to hear sleighbells in the snow. . ."

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas, Let your heart be light. From now on, our troubles will be out of sight. Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Make the Yuletide gay. From now on, our troubles will be miles away."

"I'll be home for Christmas. You can count on me. Please have snow and mistletoe and presents on the tree. Christmas Eve will find me where the love light gleams. I'll be home for Christmas if only in my dreams."

And hundreds of others. Where and when did society at large lose the true meaning and spirit of Christmas? I don't think the people who wrote those songs ever envisioned a day when Wal-Mart employees would be trampled to death by greedy shoppers who then refused to leave the store for the investigation because they'd been standing in line for hours. Maybe we lost Christmas when society decided "Merry Christmas" was too un-pc and opted to go for "Happy Holidays" instead. Maybe we lost it when society decided to take Christ out of Christmas.

I just want what you have . . . part 2

Back in July, I wrote about the Dallas Housing Authority building townhome projects in affluent neighborhoods. It is their contention that putting poor people on the dole in the midst of people who work for a living will improve the standards of the "poor people" on the dole. My contention is that the "poor people" are what make the area blighted -- You can take the "poor person" out of the slum, but you can't take the slum out of the "poor person."

Granted, the projects I'm about to tell you about are not in an affluent neighborhood, but I think they prove my point. In 2005, Dallas tore down the blighted Frazier Courts public housing complex in South Dallas. That area is now covered with bright new townhome style residences -- "the new face of public housing." The complex is now called Frazier Wahoo.

The newspaper reports that on a recent afternoon, they observed "residents scurried inside when a group of young men congregated on a front porch to gamble with dice. They shouted expletives menacingly, while loud music from their car made neighbors' windows rattle."

Residents complain of rodent infestation. Alpha-Barnes Real Estate Management, under contract to DHA to run the place, says the rodents are a result of filth on the part of the residents. Residents also complain about shoddy carpet -- again, a result of filth on their part according to Alpha-Barnes. The conclusion of The Dallas Morning News editorial is that "If Frazier Wahoo goes bad, it will drag the surrounding neighborhood with it."

Isn't that what people in affluent areas have been saying about these projects all along?

"New Face, Old Problems." The Dallas Morning News; November 28, 2008; p. 22A.

Update on "Rent"

Hooray for the parents of Rowlett for taking a moral stand and making a difference! They applied enough pressure that the school's drama director decided to cancel its production of "Rent."

A mother of one of the students who had a starring role said she was concerned for students because some opponents had "gotten out of control . . ." I don't think it was the opponents who got out of control. I think it is a society that thinks it's OK to show on a high school stage a bunch of people in bed who've been having sex that's out of control. I think it's a society that thinks homosexuality is OK that's out of control. I think it's a society that thinks if a person's circumstances are bad enough, it's OK to steal that's out of control. I think it's a society that denigrates people who hold high moral standards that's out of control.

A letter to the editor earlier in the week decried the "narrow-minded hypocrites" opposing the production. Terry Murphy of Addison said he would provide an auditorium or theater for them to do the musical and that his offer was serious. More power to you, sir. Now you can put your money where you mouth is.

"Curtain falls on 'Rent' Showing." The Dallas Morning News; December 11, 2008. P. 1B.
". . .but I'll give them a stage." The Dallas Morning News; December 10, 2008. P. 18A.

Told ya!

Remember when Essie May told you to remember the name Valerie Jarrett?

The rumor is that the federal authorities got their tip on Illinois Governor Blagojevich from Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel. Yesterday morning when I heard this news, I told Mr. Essie May that if that rumor is true, this is how I guarantee you it went down: Obama had someone he wanted in that seat. When his staff contacted Blagojevich to tell him who they wanted, they found out the seat wouldn't be cheap. So they turned him in, thinking Obama could get who he wanted if they got Blagojevich out of the way.

Then I read the newspaper. At one place in the tapes, Blagojevich says that Obama's people are "not going to give me anything except appreciation. (expletive) them!" If Obama's people haven't been in contact with him, how does he know they're not going to play his game?

The charges against the Governor do not identify any of the candidates by name. They are referred to as "Candidate 1," "Candidate 2," etc. But guess who was number one on the list of those being considered? None other than Valerie Jarrett. And unless the Illinois legislature calls a special election, guess who's the next Senator from Illinois?

"Arrest sets off shock waves." The Dallas Morning News; December 10, 2008; p. 1A.

Senate Seat for Sale!

Sign seen at the Illinois governor's mansion:

"Senate seat for sale. Inquire at the nearest federal penitentiary."

How far we have fallen!

Did you know that in our nation's capitol building, there is a large "disclaimer" displayed prominently in front of the nativity scene? It was placed there by the atheists, and it says. "There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

What a slap in the face to Jesus Christ in this season when we celebrate His miraculous birth! What a slap in the face to Christians! We are no longer a nation of majority rule -- we are a nation of kowtowing to the minority no matter what zany, dangerous, immoral garbage they come up with. We better get back to the basics, and some of us Christians better start hollering! God said, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord" Psalm 33:12. But He also said, ". . .seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children" Hosea 4:6. No wonder the once grand USA is rapidly becoming a third-rate nation!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,461424,00.html (photo included at this site)

What's next for NLISD?

North Lamar High School just finished their production of "Urinetown." What's next for them? I predict that next year the drama instructors will pick "Rent." Rowlett High School is currently involved in a controversy over their drama department's decision to stage "Rent" this year. Those who want to do the musical claim that it is a play that "promotes love and acceptance." Ryan Clark, a Rowlett senior student said, "This society, including me, could use a lesson in acceptance." What the play promotes is acceptance of homosexuality and a deviant lifestyle. Other proponents of the production said that the high school edition of the play has less profanity than the original, and a song that was inappropriate for teens was removed. My question is, "Why do a musical that has to be edited for teenagers?"

I went out to the internet to garner some information about the musical. Draw your own conclusions.

"Rent" evolved from playwright Billy Aronson's desire to do a musical based on Puccini's opera La Boheme, but replacing Puccini's settings with the coarseness and noise of modern New York. Jonathan Larson wrote the music and lyrics. Here's a cast of characters from the play:

• Mimi Márquez, an exotic dancer with HIV
  Rodolfo, a poet
  Roger Davis, a musician who is HIV positive
  Marcello, a painter
  Mark Cohen, a filmmaker
  Musetta, a singer
  Maureen Johnson, a lesbian performance artist
  Schaunard, a musician
  Angel Dumott Schunard, a gay drag queen percussionist with AIDS
  Colline, a philosopher
  Tom Collins, a gay philosophy professor and anarchist with AIDS
  Alcindoro, a state councilor
  Joanne Jefferson, a lawyer, who is a lesbian (Also partially based on Marcello)
  Benoit, a landlord
  Benjamin 'Benny' Coffin III, the local landlord and a former roommate of Roger, Mark, Collins, and Maureen

Here are some portions lifted from the plotline:

• Angel . . .is a flamboyantly homosexual man who performs a song and dance number and sometimes wears women's clothing;
• Mimi Márquez, a nineteen-year-old junkie and S & M dancer at the Cat Scratch Club. She lives in the apartment downstairs and asks Roger to light a candle for her because her electricity and heat have also been shut off. Mimi also needs the candle to prepare her heroin, which she drops inside the loft and then employs as means to flirt with Roger.
• After leaving Life Support, Mark saves a homeless bag lady from being beaten by a police officer.
• The scene turns to a bed containing all the couples, with the implication that they are all having sex (Mark is absent), which quickly transforms into a frustrating and awkward situation for all of them.
• Collins arrives with money, revealing that he rigged a nearby ATM to dispense free cash with the PIN "A-N-G-E-L".
• Joanne catches Maureen kissing another woman and angrily stalks off
• Collins is heartbroken, and at Angel's (the flamboyant drag queen) funeral, he declares his undying love.
• She and Roger embrace, and everyone is touched and relieved as they are reminded of the fleetingness of life and reaffirm that there is "no day but today."

So from what I've read, the message is "do whatever you want, for tomorrow you die." Sounds like a really inspiring, uplifting message for today's teenagers, doesn't it? And remember, you heard the title of North Lamar's next production here first!

"Some parents want student production of 'Rent' evicted." The Dallas Morning News; December 6, 2008; p. 1B.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_(musical)