Amid the frozen tundra of the Lake Michigan beach in Glencoe, Illinois, this is one of my favorite photos I've taken. In part, that's because I don't quite have a clue how this formed -- I know there can be big waves in Lake Michigan, but water isn't going to freeze in mid-wave. Besides, this doesn't look precisely like a wave. And none of that even explains the "vertical handles" on the left. ("What's that all about?", as my friend Tiffany is often known to say.)
However this oddity occurred, I loved the formation and its glistening. This is what you get when you wander down to the beach on a lovely late-January morning in Glencoe.
0 Comments
This doesn't qualify as a unknown song from a musical, though it's a cousin.
It's well-known that Johnny Marks wrote the song "Rudolph the Red-Rednosed Reindeer," which was used as the basis for the holiday classic TV special. And for that musical, he also wrote what become another Christmas hit song, "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas." Now, having written two Christmas songs that are traditional favorites is highly impressive. But -- did you know that before the TV special he had actually written what is now a third, popular Christmas song, as well? This third song was not included in the Rudoplph TV special, I suspect, because he only wrote the music for it. The lyrics though weren't by a fellow-collaborator, but rather adapted from a poem -- albeit by another fellow, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It had previously been set to music in the late 18th century (by English organist John Baptiste Calkin -- don't worry, it won't be on the test), but when Marks wrote his own music for the poem in the 1950s, that has now become the version most-heard today. The song is "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." (Having said that most people don't know that the music is by Johnny Marks, I suspect that almost as many people don't know that the words are by Longfellow...) For that matter, having said that the song is not in the TV special, I should clarify by noting that it sort of is -- the music, at least. Near the very beginning of the show, as Sam the Snowman is introducing us to the tale, if you listen carefully you can hear Johnny Marks's music to "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" playing as underscoring. But here's the full song. There are a lot of recordings, but since we're talking about "Rudolph," we might as well use the recording by Sam himself, Burl Ives. Three popular Christmas songs by Johnny Marks. Not shabby. As you might have noted, I am a huge Chicago Cubs fan. The other day, ESPN -- as part of their "ESPN:60" series -- ran a feature about Matt Szczur, a top prospect I've been following for a few years in the Cubs' minor league system. (His last name is pronounced "Caesar.") Though a top prospect, he's not one of the premiere ones, since the Cubs have a two or three others who are slated for the Major Leagues before him. Yet for all the attention on those others, Szcur keeps putting up solid numbers and stays in the mix. But it was for his actions off the field that ESPN spent 11 minutes to tell viewers about him -- and how his selfless act saved the life of someone he'd never met. It's a lovely piece. On Monday, I posted a photo that I'd taken few years ago in my hometown of a sign explaining that the Glencoe beach was closed for the winter. If the snow piled high on the posts wasn't clue enough why it was closed, this picture below should.
And no, this isn't the Arctic Circle. This is simply the shore of Lake Michigan in the middle of winter Glencoe, Illinois, you see, can get fairly nippy in January and February. As it happens, that's around when I'll be going back there for a short trip. Yes, it's true, I'm one of the few people who actually travels from Los Angeles to Chicago in January and February on purpose. The Disney Studios has made a film, Saving Mr. Banks, about the trials and tribulations dealing with author P.L. Travers in order to make Mary Poppins, which made a movie star of Julie Andrews. As I write this, I'm at the WGA Theater where I just saw the film, and it was terrific. Three small quibbles -- 1) There is a scene where we see a Winnie-the-Pooh stuffed Disney toy, and they didn't exist in 1961, 2) Jason Schwartz man as Richard Sherman does his own piano playing, and they should show it. There's only one quick shot. And 3) I wish they said that Robert Sherman has a limp because he was shot in the war, not just "shot." But that's it, all incredibly minor. By the way, given that the film deals with a writer and studio battling over a script, the WGA Theater is a great place to see this... And P.S. Paul Giamatti as P.L. Travers' studio limo driver almost steals the film. (Lesson to actors: there are no small roles.) Anyway, it's been well-known for many decades how Warner Bros. infamously didn't hire Julie Andrews to re-create her legendary Broadway role as Eliza Doolittle when Warners made the film version of My Fair Lady. It's only become all the more galling over the years, as her career grew to be legendary -- and as rare film clips from TV have surfaced showing how great she was in the role. Of course, that opened the door for Walt Disney to show brilliance and hire her from Mary Poppins. She tied for the Best Actress Oscar that year. And she also won the Golden Globe Award. Now, usually I ignore the Golden Globes for the scam even it is. But sweet, endearing Julie Andrews' acceptance is just too -- well, using the Poppins vernacular -- practically perfect in every way. It's short, but spot-on. And remarkable. his is my favorite Christmas article. What I like to refer to as The Other Greatest Story Ever Told. It may be my favorite article, period. It's definitely among the top 10. I can't tell you all other nine, but I want to give some wiggle room.
It was written by my pal Mark Evanier, who I often mention and post articles from. As Mark himself acknowledges, it's his most linked-to article from his website (which you can reach here) -- the 17th best blog in the United States, according to Time Magazine (really!), though the fourth best, according to me. It's also, he says, the most-stolen article he's written, which is impressive under any condition, but especially for a Christmas story. He says that people either copy it to their website without attribution or a link back to the original, or worse (and bizarrely) some people actually insert their own name in the article, in place of Mark's. So, just to keep being clear, this is written by Mark Evanier. I love the story for three reasons. One is that it's a wondrous, human tale and one that deals with a world-favorite Christmas song. And a tale that came about not by pure chance but because Mark Evanier is Mark Evanier, who sees things from a deeply-informed perspective and then goes about to do something about it. The second is that, whatever it's about, it's just gorgeously written, spun as only Mark Evanier can tell and write a tale. The third reason is personal -- it's about the singer and songwriter, Mel Tormé, who my mother went to high school with, at Hyde Park High School in Chicago. I don't believe they knew each other, but he's there in her yearbook. (Several years back, when I was working on the movie, Naked Gun 2-1/2, doing PR in my days of shame, Mel Tormé did a cameo in the film, and I finally had a chance to meet him and tell him about my mother and him. We had a very pleasant, albeit brief conversation, which most happily of all I got to pass along to my mother, which she liked hearing.) Anyway, this is just storytelling at the Evanier peak, which is saying a lot. You can read it here. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|
© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2024
|