Category: Video

Movie Gem: Carrie Pilby (a holiday movie)

About three years ago, on one of those “what to watch” Saturdays, I stumbled across Carrie Pilby on Netflix. The titular star’s face, especially those big blue eyes, are what grabbed my attention. Then I saw that Gabriel Byrne and Nathan Lane were also in it — two actors I...

Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis: Medical Pioneer in Asepsis

A few weeks ago I shared a YouTube video on Corset History created by Weird History. As I said then, the channel is amazing. So many great bits from history on hundreds of topics. As y’all know, medical history is especially fascinating to me, so today I am sharing another...

My Rock ‘n Roll journey & Favorite live performances

My earliest music memories are listening to the greats from the “oldies” genre, such as Bobby Vinton, Smokey Robinson, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Frankie Vallie and the Four Season, and so on. My mom was of the sock-hop generation, but she also appreciated the crooners as well as...

Movie Gem: The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

My husband discovered this Amazon Original Movie a few weeks ago while scanning desperately for something decent to watch. Upon my viewing of The Map of Tiny Perfect Things trailer (watch below) I liked what I saw but also got these hints of Nicolas Sparks vibes. Meaning, I feared the...

Corset History Video

I have recently discovered a fabulous YouTube channel: Weird History. The hundreds of uploaded videos cover a vast array of historical topics, places, events, and people. Most of the videos are relatively short but still manage to do a great job of covering the facts. I particularly love the brief...

Highest Recommendation: The Expanse

It is no secret that I am a massive fan of television and cinema. These days, sad to say, it is almost impossible to find a new movie or series that is well written. My husband and I constantly lament this tragedy since we have a tradition of watching TV...

Merry Christmas 2019 from Sharon Lathan, Novelist

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful, faithful readers and friends! I love meaningful quotes. Whether serious, inspirational, poetic, literary, or humorous, the well-crafted sentiments from clever people of the past are a joy to read. After the chaos of Christmas morning present opening wanes and the mess is cleaned, grab...

I love Christmas and I love The Muppets!

I love Christmas and I love The Muppets! The late, great John Denver on the original The Muppets show. A terrific rendition of The 12 Days of Christmas. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year – The Muppets Christmas Song. Mindy Kaling joins The Muppets for their Christmas group...

Christmas Carols: What Child is This?

What Child is This? was written by William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898), the manager of an insurance company in Glasgow. In 1865, when only 29 years of age, Dix was struck with a near fatal illness and consequently suffered months confined to his bed.  During this time, he read the Bible comprehensively and...

Christmas Carols: Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Charles Wesley (1707-1788), younger brother of Methodist preacher John Wesley, is the author of this famous Christmas carol. Charles was a hymn writer and a poet, also known as one of the people who began the Methodist movement in the Church of England. Hark the Herald Angels Sing was composed specifically...

Christmas Carols: Silent Night

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night” ~Luke 2:8 Unlike most Christmas carols, the origins of Silent Night are rooted in well-established facts AND steeped in dramatized legend. The Facts: Father Joseph Mohr (1792-1848), a young priest in the parish church at...

More Than One Way to Cook a Turkey

In the United States, turkey as a holiday dinner meat is associated most strongly with Thanksgiving. However, Christmas runs a close second. In my family tradition, glazed ham with fresh cloves has forever been our dinner choice, turkey the special treat for Thanksgiving. Whether choosing turkey for either or both...

Have a Pentatonix Christmas

Most years I share live performance videos which are my favorites. Topping the list in the contemporary recording artist list is the a-cappella group Pentatonix. Personally, I think they are phenomenally talented and their harmonizing never fails to elicit goosebumps and send chills up my spine. My favorite Pentatonix performance...

Christmas Carols: O Holy Night

According to history, in Roquemaure, a small town in southern France, at the end of the year 1843, the parish church organ had been renovated. To celebrate the event, the priest asked town wine merchant and poet Placide Cappeau to write a Christmas poem, even though the latter never showed an interest...

Is “Die Hard” a Christmas Movie? You Betcha!

In 1988 the movie Die Hard starring Bruce Willis and the late great Alan Rickman was released. Surprisingly, considering the later hoopla, it was NOT released over the Christmas holiday but rather on July 15. Being fans of action flicks, we saw the movie in the theater and loved it....