Crowded House: Auld Lang Syne

As today is New Year's Eve, I am compelled to post an end-of-the-year related item for today's Saturday musical selection. Watch New Zealand's Crowded House perform an instrumental version of Auld Lang Syne in 1987. As their performance of the classic is brief, I've included my 2009 NYE post of the Scottish parliament singing Robert Burns' poem set to music.

In 1991, I was fortunate enough to see this great, but underrated band. Crowded House, not the Scottish parliament, that is.

Related posts:

Auld Lang Syne at the Scottish parliament

Photo essay: Las Vegas Fremont Street Experience

UPDATE 9:00pm CST: Nice Deb has a well, nice version of Auld Lang Syne posted on her site.

Occupy occtrocities: "Occupy" is a banished word edition

Lake Superior State University, August, 2009

Lake Superior State University released its banished words list today. "Occupy" made the list.

Will the movement get the hint? I very much doubt it.

Oh, Happy New Year everyone!

AP: List of banned words for 2012 includes 'man cave,' 'baby bump,' 'occupy'
American Glob: Mostly patriotic #OWS protesters arrested for burning American flags
Fox News: Protester defends flag-burning at Occupy Charlotte
Gateway Pundit: Figures. #Occupy loons break rules with plastic float for Rose Parade
Sorry, I have other plans: Occupy War! War Is A Crime: Stay after the Rose Parade to hear Cindy Sheehan speak!
Los Angeles Times: Occupy Rose Parade: Activists divided over protest
Fausta's Blog: Occupy octopus?
Just like the Tea Party. Village Voice: Occupy Wall Street to establish $100K bail fund
Breitbart TV: Occupy London stages Dickens to highlight inequality
You mean there is harassment within the Occupy movement? Anarchist News: Anti-harassment statement by members of Occupy Vancouver
KGO-TV: Oakland police arrest 'Occupy' protesters in trees
Washington Examiner: Occupy protester involved in police fight released from custody
Salon: Occupy Des Moines is the Democrats' problem
So maybe they are not socialists. Greensboro News-Record: Occupy Greensboro words of wisdom, six bucks a head
AP: Police arrest 2 Occupy Honolulu campers at park after mayor announces new boundaries
A Disgruntled Republican: More Occupy Nashville news: From girl brawls to tents on fire
KMTR: Occupy Eugene targets Councilor George Poling's house a second time
But what I really want to do is direct. Detroit News: Occupy Detroit seeks to release book on its movement
Tom Nelson: Occupy Bristol: Planet not yet overheated enough to allow us to sleep comfortably outside in an unheated tent
CBS Atlanta: Occupy Atlanta protest ends in vandalism
Red State: My Occupy Thanksgiving (Yes, still relevant)
National Post: Fredericton's mayor gives Occupy protesters until New Year's Day to leave camp
American Power: Occupy Wall Street: 'F**k Israel'
Pat Dollard: #Occupiers attending Ron Paul Iowa events as supporters
The Morning Spew: Chanting OWSers kicked out of Iowa coffee shop
Weasel Zippers: Oopsie: Brain-dead occupier walks straight into a pole while screaming meaningless slogans during Romney event…

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Related post: Lake Superior State University--home of the Banished Words list

Technorati tags: crime communism law legal ows Politics left wing extremists current events socialism occupywallstreet business economy news iowa iowa politics elections 2012 iowa caucuses michigan upper peninsula sault ste. marie

From the WFI: Will Obama NLRB issue last minute job-killing decisions?

Barack Obama's two recess-appointed board members, Mark Pearce and Craig Becker, leave office today. What unfortunate surprises do they have in store for our nation's job creators?

From a Workforce Fairness Institute press release:

Will Obama Labor Board Issue Last Minute Job-Killing Decisions?

Washington, D.C. (December 31, 2011) – The Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI) today released the following statement in anticipation that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is working overtime during the holiday season and in advance of labor radical Craig Becker's term ending to reach decisions on cases that will force more workers into unions and kill more jobs during one of the worst economic downturns in our nation’s history:

"In Board Member Brian Hayes' letter in November to Chairman John Kline he clearly expresses concern that fellow board members Craig Becker and Mark Pearce intend to publish decisions with respect to a 'number of significant cases pending before the Board' without allowing time for dissent. This means the assault against American workers and small businesses undertaken by the current roster of government bureaucrats at the National Labor Relations Board who were handpicked by Big Labor may not be over," said Fred Wszolek, spokesperson for the Workforce Fairness Institute (WFI). "Days from now we will know if – for the first time in the regulatory agency's history – the NLRB has ‘breach[ed] the Board's internal operating rule' and issued job-killing decisions without allowing for dissent. If so, it will be another remarkable reminder how far President Obama has strayed from his message of changing Washington, D.C. and how little integrity his rhetoric on job creation really has."

Technorati tags: labor unions organized laborDemocrats Obama business nlrb south carolina business jobs afl cio craig becker

Weekly GOP Address with Johnny Isakson

In the final Weekly GOP Address this year, Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia returns to a sad but familiar theme--the lack of jobs.

"It's no secret that the number one issue facing our country is jobs. So the number one goal of the Republicans for 2012 is to continue to make it easier for American small businesses to create jobs," Isakson says. "We'll accomplish this by focusing on three things: fundamental tax reform, regulatory reform and energy security."



Technorati tags: politics gop Republican unions news jobs economy business isakson johnny isakson georgia georgia politics

Photo essay: Las Vegas Fremont Street Experience

Earlier this month Mrs. Marathon Pundit and I visited Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. The latter destination was sandwiched between a stay near the Strip and our final night in downtown Vegas at the Golden Nugget.

Downtown Vegas preeminence over the Strip ended in the 1950s, and many visitors to Sin City have no idea it exists. It is famous for its annual New Year's Eve Party--the only night of the year when admission is charged to enjoy the Fremont Street Experience.

The most noticeable attraction of the FSE is its lighted barrel vault canopy. Fremont was closed to vehicle traffic in the 1990s. Not much to look at? Well, at 10am in the morning, that's true. But....

The light show on the canopy on December 16 at 7:00pm looked this way. There are live bands, many of them tribute acts, performing every night at the FSE.

Fremont Street is named for John C. Frémont, an explorer, Civil War general, and the first presidential nominee for the Republican Party.

Up until the 1990s, Fremont Street, not the Strip, was used in most movies and television shows when depicting Las Vegas. This part of downtown was known as "Glitter Gulch."

What was I saying about Glitter Gulch?

"Vegas Vic" used to stand above the since-demolished Pioneer Club hotel. He keeps watch over a souvenir shop now.

Fremont Street, not like two weeks ago, will be jam-packed on New Year's Eve. Besides music, FSE offers zip-line rides.

Just outside of the Fremont Street Experience is the Neon Museum. "Andy Anderson" used to draw customers into a Las Vegas Boulevard dairy.

The Hacienda Horse and Rider used to grace the defunct Hacienda Hotel on the Strip.

One more look at the FSE canopy. Perhaps Baby New Year has taken St. Nick's place by now.

Happy New Year to you!

Related post:

Hard at work in Las Vegas with showgirls