Top O' the Briefing
Happy Friday, y’all! Kruiser is taking some well-deserved family time today, and the Sine Qua Non Sequitur is doing some community service for that unfortunate streaking incident at the Intergalactic Yarn Ball Extravaganza. So you’re stuck with me today.
Normally, the top of the Morning Briefing is a highlight of the trending story of the day, but after an exhausting week of confirmation hearings, I decided to take a different tack.
We’re going to have plenty of time to celebrate on Monday, but let’s take time today to reflect on the fact that our nightmare of the Biden administration is almost over. Sure, the Biden years have given us plenty of material to write about — which I can appreciate as someone who makes money writing about the ridiculousness of the left — but hardworking Americans are long overdue for relief from the damage that this administration has done.
Thank God the Biden administration will be in our rearview mirror soon.
My friend and colleague Stephen Green wrote yesterday:
All snide commentary about the "positive" parts of Biden's legacy aside, I keep reminding readers here and at Instapundit that plenty of Bidenflation and ruinous regulation is still baked into the system.
Undoing that damage — treating the cancerous growth before it fully metastasizes — is the job we hired Donald Trump to do, and he's going to need all of our help to drain the malarial swamp that's choking the country.
Good riddance, Joe Biden. Welcome back, Donald Trump. Let’s get back to work.
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Everything Isn't Awful
Good Samaritans are awesome!
Two brothers walking down the street saw some Christmas ornament extension cords on fire so they ran over to unplugged them.
— GoodNewsMovement (@GoodNewsMVT) December 19, 2024
Luckily they spotted the issue before it could reach the window where the cord was leading from, preventing a house fire.
They left this message on the… pic.twitter.com/s0dUyasSRI
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A Few of My Favorite Things (Right Now)
Here are some of the cultural items I've been into lately.
What I'm watching
I’ve been on a nostalgic kick for a while now, so I’ve enjoyed going back and watching “Knots Landing” in order. I’m only up to the second season, but it’s a lot less like the continuing soap opera that I remember from the show’s later years.
At this point in the show’s run, most of the major plots resolve themselves over an episode or two, but the show wasn’t afraid to tackle some controversial topics like alcoholism and abortion. I’m convinced that Karen Fairgate (Michele Lee), who is always raising money for the ACLU, raising awareness for the ERA, or having people sign petitions for abortion clinics, is the archetype of the epithet “Karen.”
I initially found it on a free app called Plex, but I discovered that I can watch it on Amazon Prime with fewer commercials than on Plex.
What I'm reading
I got two books as Christmas gifts — I’m talking real-deal books, which I haven’t bought often because I don’t have much bookshelf space at home. I finished the first one last weekend: “Stories of the Hymns” by Glenn Rawson, Jean Tonioli, and Jason Tonioli.
It’s a lovely book that, true to its name, tells the story of several beloved hymns and the people who wrote them. Whether it’s a hymn that I know and love or one that I haven’t heard of, the stories are compelling testimonies to God’s work in people’s lives and the creativity He blesses them with.
This week, I started the second book: “Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey” by Reid Mitenbuler. I’m only a couple of chapters in, but the history of the only whiskey designated as a “distinctive product of the U.S.” is full of fascinating twists and turns that I can’t wait to read more about.
What I'm listening to
I have an eclectic playlist that I listen to as I’m working that lasts me about three days of the work week; the rest of the week, I usually listen to my playlists of music from the Disney Parks. Back in November, my favorite Disney composer, George Wilkins, passed away at the age of 90.
Sadly, Wilkins doesn’t loom as large on the landscape of Disney composers, largely because much of his original work was for attractions that aren’t around anymore. Wilkins was a major musical factor in the early ‘80s heyday of EPCOT Center (now Epcot), and his masterwork was the score for my favorite vintage Epcot attraction — the late, lamented attraction Horizons.
Wilkins did orchestrations and arrangements for other early EPCOT Center attractions, including the original Journey Into Imagination, The Land, and World of Motion. In 1985, he composed the gorgeous score for Space Mountain, including the queue music that’s about his only remaining musical legacy in the Disney Parks.
Wilkins did some work for Disney Parks outside the U.S. as well as the arrangements for the Country Bear Jamboree, which recently changed its music programming. But what I’ll most remember Wilkins for is his soaring score for Horizons, which encapsulates both Walt Disney’s optimistic futurism as well as a certain strain of orchestral music that spans the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Fans of his music certainly miss him.
Y'all have a good weekend!
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