Deck Us All With Boston Charlie
As a seasonal public service, which I learned many years ago from The Kansas City Star, we present the genuine and orginal lyrics to the festive Christmas carol, Deck Us All With Boston Charlie, lyrics by Walt Kelly, music by Traditional (whoever he is).
Deck us all with Boston Charlie
Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo!
Nora's freezin' on the trolley,
Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo!
Don't we know archaic barrel,
Lullaby Lilla boy, Louisville Lou?
Trolley Molly don't love Harold,
Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!
Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Polly wolly cracker n' too-da-loo!
Hunky Dory's pop is lolly gaggin' on the wagon,
Willy, folly go through!
Donkey Bonny brays a carol,
Antelope Cantaloup, 'lope with you!
Chollie's collie barks at Barrow,
Harum scarum five alarum bung-a-loo!
There. Not as profound as "We have met the enemy, and he is us." But a good Pogo memory all the same.
Happy Yule.
-- George Pyle
Deck us all with Boston Charlie
Walla Walla, Wash., an' Kalamazoo!
Nora's freezin' on the trolley,
Swaller dollar cauliflower alley-garoo!
Don't we know archaic barrel,
Lullaby Lilla boy, Louisville Lou?
Trolley Molly don't love Harold,
Boola boola Pensacoola hullabaloo!
Bark us all bow-wows of folly,
Polly wolly cracker n' too-da-loo!
Hunky Dory's pop is lolly gaggin' on the wagon,
Willy, folly go through!
Donkey Bonny brays a carol,
Antelope Cantaloup, 'lope with you!
Chollie's collie barks at Barrow,
Harum scarum five alarum bung-a-loo!
There. Not as profound as "We have met the enemy, and he is us." But a good Pogo memory all the same.
Happy Yule.
-- George Pyle
10 Comments:
I love that, and know that I miss Kelly and his kids.
Happy Holidays to you, George.
Wow. I'm wondering if/when the Tribune will acknowledge the departure of Holly Mullen. I, for one, will miss her, but do understand her frustrations. Local, local, local? What's wrong with good news judgment?
Goodbye, Holly. And, Happy Holidays.
-0-
From: hollyjmullen@XXXXXXX.net
To: [Salt Lake Tribune staff]
Subject: FW: Goodbye and gratitude
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2006 16:02:19 +0000
To all my colleagues and pals:
Thanks for a great ride over the past nine years. This is a GOP (grand old paper). I'll miss it.
First, to calm the inevitable rumor mill: Like everyone else at the Tribune, I've been told to make my work local, local, local. And more local. Occasionally, I do like to take on a non-local topic. I did so for last Sunday. Terry exercised his editorial prerogative and pulled the column. I disagreed. I got mad.
Then I got smart.
Now for the context (that's the important part of every story, right?): My decision rests on much bigger stuff than this one event. It kicked me into gear. I've needed to move on to something else -- at least for six months, maybe longer. I've contemplated exit stragegies, scrutinized finances, tried to find a color for my parachute.
On Monday, I resigned.
I'd be disingenuious by not adding that much of my angst has to do with this industry. I honestly love a lot of the changes coming down -- snappier stories, a 24-hour (well, almost) on-line news cycle. I don't feel especially comfortable with reporters blogging. Mostly because their best stuff keeps ending up in the blog and fails to get in the paper. And also because ethics seem more than a bit blurry sometimes.
Etc.
George - You Kansasans are some weird people alright. Some of our pioneers must of dropped off in Kansas while wandering this way. Sounds like some of their early trekking songs. No matter. Happy days to you, George, and to all who make this blog what it is. BTW, D.S. told me to make it rough for Holly. Just following orders. Nothing personal you understand.
Terry, in Holly's e-mail, must be a Dean Singleton clone. What a jerk!
Who's next?
For sure it won't be Singleton's lovey-dovey chief editorial writer who endorsed the wonderful, beloved, peace-lover George W. Bush!
What a grand city for newspapers: one hires the head of the Republican party to be it's "objective and fair" editor, the other gets rid of its moderate/liberal columnist.
Terry, I'm sure you'll have an "extra" in your next pay envelope.
Censorship is alive and well inside Salt Lake City's two "newspapers."
I just read Holly's last column. Sad. She was no Ellen Goodman, but much better than Molly Ivins. Unlike many other columnists, she knew what she was writing about.
Terry Orme should be ashamed. Deep thinker. Keep it local. Judas Priest! An editor should be a guider, not a censor. Talent at the tribune is diminishing rapidly. Your paper has a bunch of know-it-alls who know nothing. Does anyone there read your newspaper?
Spelling, syntax, grammar. Much in need at the Singleton/cheap newspaper. Yet you let a good one get away.
Where is Jay Shelledy when we need him? Where is Dominic Welch? Where is R.C. Frisch? Where is the McCarthy family? Where is talent, creativity, exploration, risk?
Not at the tribune for the past few years. And certainly not at the Deseret News, which has a GOP puppet as its editor, replacing a dippy journalist imitator who "advances" to "teach" at BYU.
Sorry to see you go, Holly. I will miss your insites, sagacity, intelligence, wit and wisdom.
Again, shame on Orme and the tribune.
The comments posted here read like those of a disgruntled employee taking cheap shots at his employer. I hope that I am not witnessing someone else's (not Holly's) notion of journalistic courage and ethics in action.
Six months ago Holly told some of us that she was being encouraged (pressured?) to do more hardedge news commentary--you know, the kind that fills your email inbox with hate mail. She, on the other hand, wanted to do more human interest stuff--apparently like writing about "the rescue of a dolphin in China." When Terry Orme spiked this, her last column topic, it supposedly catalyzed the process that eventually lead to her resignation.
As sad as we are to see Holly leave, let's try to remember that Terry did not "censor" coverage of a controversial topic. On the contrary, he was trying to get her to be more controversial. He was not trying to shelter a local entity from scrutiny, he was trying to encourage it. Thus, all the whining and cheap shots regarding censorship, the quality of the local newspapers, Dean Singleton, et. al., seem to be misplaced in reference to Holly's departure.
My problem with this piece of bad news is that I think Holly's instincts were correct. What this divided community actually needs is more reminding of our common humanity, not endless finger pointing and name calling. It may not be sexy, it may not be what sells newspapers, it may not even be quality hard hitting journalism, but such social responsibility just may be what is most important.
As for Holly is concerned, I have faith that she will be just fine. Look for her to find a nice comfortable position at some place like the University of Utah. She deserves it.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Well, if you're dead set on doing "local" only, please make sure this man gets a pay raise. Matthew D. LaPlante's story this morning was superior writing and reporting. One of the best pieces I've seen in your paper in the past 30 years.
"Walter Smith was loading a shotgun, apparently intent on killing himself, when Pleasant Grove police officers intervened in the summer of 2004.
"Friends say it was a cry for help from the former Marine who had recently returned from Iraq - a demonstration of Smith's problems that should have resulted in immediate treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, a combat-related condition common to returning soldiers.
"Instead, Smith spent two days in a mental health facility before being released with instructions "to find counseling," according to friends.
"Now the 24-year-old veteran is in the Tooele County jail, awaiting trial on a murder charge."
A very compelling, forceful read.
Sadly, though, most of your "local" stuff is silly and newsprint wasteful.
Also sadly, you probably won't be able to keep this talented reporter since boss Singleton's purse strings are so binding.
The sense I got was that Mullen got out before the shoe dropped.At least of late, her writing was uninspired, her choice of subjects was almost universally mundane, and she seemed like she just couldn't find anything to say. It began to look like she was just meeting a deadline, and even that was enough of a chore that she couldn't write and enjoy herself at the same time. A writer that goes on an adventure and can't bang that many words out without missing a beat doesn't really feel like writing. Doing her column should have been better than being on a vacation, and I wish her luck in finding a new job that moves her that way.
Oh, oh. Tribune staffers best keep looking over their collective shoulders. MediaNews, Singleton's chain, just fired a bunch at the St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press.
Thanks, Dean, for your love of newspapers and journalism. The firings came after Singleton fired about 30 others at the paper a few weeks ago.
-0-
Pioneer Press lays off 9 workers
The St. Paul Pioneer Press laid off nine workers on Tuesday, a move that followed a union decision in December to reject a company plan to restructure an employee pension plan.
The nine workers are in the paper's business operations. Last month, 30 employees — including 21 in the newsroom — took buyouts as the paper looked to cut costs as advertising revenue dipped.
The paper had proposed freezing a long-standing defined-benefit pension plan and instead providing a 401(k) plan with a company match for workers represented by the Minnesota Newspaper Guild. The union rejected the proposal, saying workers would come out with lesser benefits.
That decision "created a hole in our budget," Publisher Par Ridder said Wednesday. Tuesday's layoffs address part of the problem, he said, but other budget items — such as travel — will be affected as well.
Union officials were upset that the paper didn't follow a past practice of giving laid off employees 14-day notice. Darren Carroll, the Guild's executive officer, called the layoffs a short-term strategy that has long-term implications for the newspaper. "This strategy of attrition seems to us both terribly short-sighted and wrong," he said.
The Guild and the newspaper are expected to start negotiating a new contract later this year. The current contract runs through July 31.
— John Welbes (Pioneer Press)
Post a Comment
<< Home