QUARANTINE BLOG # 526

September 7, 2021

Willard Scott, long time weatherman for NBC’s Today Show died Saturday.  Creator of Ronald McDonald, his career spanned 65 years.  He is also known for presenting a tribute greetings segment for people celebrating their 100th or above birthdays, and for receiving a kiss from Barbara (Mrs. George H. W.) Bush.  Here is a tribute NBC paid to Scott when he retired on December 11, 2015.  Or you may wish to see the original clip which is 11 minutes long.

👉  Unvaccinated US tourists are no longer welcome in Denmark or The Netherlands.  The countries announced the new vaccination requirements days after the European Union took the country off its safe travel list because of the surge in COVID-19 cases.  The move led other EU countries to respond with new restrictions on American visitors.  Bulgaria will now completely ban travel from the states, and Italy is imposing testing and quarantine requirements on US tourists.

👉  The comic strip Non Sequitor has a panel about anti-vaxers:

👉  The Canadian government announced Friday that commercial airline travelers will soon need to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.  The sweeping mandate, which also includes passengers on cruise ships and interprovincial trains, will go into effect “as soon as possible in the fall and no later than the end of October,” Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said.  Alghabra added that those working in “the federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation sectors” would face the same requirement, while other federal government employees would need to be vaccinated as early as the end of September.

👉  From time to time the Quarantine Blog puts some coins in the juke box and spins some tunes.  I found a neat website that lists the top songs of each month of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s (and there was one that did from 2010 to the current hit parade, but we’ll pass on that).  I’m not going to try to feature every song from those decades, so if you want to listen to all 120 top hits from the 60s, here is the link.  For those who are content to wait, here we go.

January 1960, “Running Bear” by Johnny Preston.  “Running Bear” was a teenage tragedy song.  Examples of the style are also known as “tear jerkers,” “death discs” or “splatter platters,” among other colorful sobriquets coined by DJs.  Often lamenting teenage death scenarios in melodramatic fashion, these songs were usually sung from the viewpoint of the dead person’s sweetheart, or another witness to the tragedy, or the dead (or dying) person.  Gruesome sounding I know, but if you grew up then, you’ll recognize “Tell Laura I Love Her,” “Dead Man’s Curve,” and “The Leader of the Pack.”  

The genre’s popularity faded – many say, “thankfully” – about 1965 with the British Invasion.  The TTS spawned a lot of parodies including “All I Have Left Is Johnny’s Hub Cap,” produced by Mad Magazine, and “Leader of the Laundromat” by the Detergents (a direct parody of “Leader of the Pack”).

“Running Bear,” is about a “young Indian brave”, and Little White Dove, an “Indian maid.”  The two are in love but are separated by two their tribes’ hatred of each other, and a raging river.  Longing to be together, they, well no spoilers.  Just play the song that is definitely not politically correct in 2021.

“Theme from A Summer Place,” Number 1 in April 1960, was written for the 1959 film “A Summer Place,” which starred Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue.  The single was not an immediate hit and did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart until mid-January 1960.  It went on to set an at-the-time record of nine consecutive weeks at number one, a record which would not be broken until 1977, when “You Light Up My Life” (popularly covered by Debby Boone) spent ten weeks at number one.  The movie is  about teenage lovers from different social classes who get back together 20 years later.  

The lyrics, not included in this all-instrumental version, begin “There’s a summer place where it may rain or storm yet I’m safe and warm for within that summer place your arms reach out to me and my heart is free from all care.”  This song remains the longest-running number one instrumental in the history of the chart, and Billboard ranked it as the Number One song for 1960.

👉  The last record for today is not from 1960, but is 1977s “You Light Up My Life.”  It makes it into today’s rotation because it is a favorite song of the bride of my youth

👉  Another new, and brief series begins today in honor of my favorite seventh grader, Mac Herrington.  Mac spent last week with Pappy and Granny while his Mom and Dad were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.  He does great in school, but it is not his favorite place, commenting one time, “I hope when Granny gets me to school, it is closed being fumigated to keep us safe from COVID, and Columbia County’s [home learning] site is down for maintenance.”  So Mac, here are some comics about school.

And although school in Columbia County has been back in session for weeks, tomorrow I’ll post a series from Peanuts featuring Charlie Brown’s sister Sally and her feelings about going to school.

👉  Today’s close “Prayers for the USA” is by Jennifer Heeren.

Dear Father God, 

You are the supreme leader of the world.  Help our leaders in the USA take their rightful place underneath Your sovereignty.  Help them to look to You before they make decisions.

Lead brave young people to step up and help protect the people and the goodness of the USA.  Help the military leaders to bring their troops together with a tightly knit bond because strength is aided in numbers and unity.

Give the police strength and endurance to stand against crime and lawlessness.  Humble people to accept their authority and respect them as people who are mainly there for protection.

No person or government is outside of Your reach, Lord.  So touch all people, even our enemies, with Your love and grace so that they might come to a saving knowledge of You.

Strengthen our pastors.  Bolster their resolve to preach the undiluted gospel. Give them words that are more than just a pep talk.  Help them to speak the words of life and the freedom of repentance.

Help us to live in harmony with each other.  Erase lines of division.  Help us to think godly thoughts of love and forgiveness.  Begin by bringing unity with believers in the Lord Jesus and then let that spread to all other people so that more and more people might become believers in You.

Help people to spread this kind of fruit on social media: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Dear sovereign and great Lord, revive us again.  Your people want to rejoice in You.  Help us to live a life of continual repentance so that we may live in Your presence.  Revive Your people to call on Your name.  Turn us toward You and away from our sin.  Help us to be contrite and humble so You can restore us.  Revive the courage of believers everywhere to share Your message of love.  Bring the instruction of the Bible back into vogue.  Create clean hearts that are washed by Your Living Water, Lord.  Help us to step away from our filthiness and into the renewal of life with You for eternity.

In the strong name of Jesus, Amen.

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