Once upon a time (in late 1978), I owned the 12-inch dance single played in the video below.  Pretty funky vinyl print; not sure what happened to it.

Sure, the song was (and is) overplayed, but it is a true classic disco single – superbly produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers.  To this day it remains the biggest selling single for the Atlantic Records label, with seven million copies sold to date (four million of those sold in 1978 and 1979).

Number one in the dance clubs this week in 1978…

“Le Freak” by Chic (#1, 1978)

Edwards and Rodgers were truly superb producers. “C’est Chic,” the album on which “Le Freak” appeared, is an excellent set of R&B and dance music. “I Want Your Love,” my favorite all time Chic record, was the follow up single. Produced, arranged, and engineered to perfection, it is a far superior record than “Le Freak” in my opinion. It was also a number one hit on the Disco/Dance Club chart (top ten overall).

“I Want Your Love” by Chic (#7, 1979)

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is to view the film “Home for the Holidays” either after dinner on the holiday, or the next day. The film serves as a sort of post-holiday elixir.

The opening credits of the film are accompanied by this fantastic take on the Santana classic. This version, for me, is way more preferred that the original.

“Evil Ways” by Rusted Root (1996)

On this night, when Americans collectively give thanks, and are doing so THIS year, one of the most difficult in our nation’s history, the man who is president of the United States called a press conference to whine and moan and cry like a fucking baby, perpetuating baseless and dangerous conspiracy theories, berating reporters, and undermining democracy.

What a pathetic piece of bottom-feeding schmegma!

The president-elect and future First Lady, earlier today:

“This year, our turkey will be smaller and the clatter of cooking a little quieter. There will be no family walks in the cold or playful bickering amongst the grandkids. Like millions of Americans, we are temporarily letting go of the traditions we can’t do safely.”

“It is not a small sacrifice. These moments with our loved ones — time that’s lost — can’t be returned. Yet, we know it’s the price of protecting each other and one we don’t pay alone. Isolated in our own dining rooms and kitchens, scattered from coast to coast, we are healing together.”

An eclectic music mix that can serve as your Thanksgiving soundtrack, should you so choose. Set runs the gamut: From Ella Fitzgerald to Khruangbin, Tom Jones to Bob Mould, Nat King Cole to Elton John, plus new music from the Ghost Twins, Smokey Brights, and Jessica Winter. (Full track listing below the Spotify link.)

Click through, press play, and enjoy.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Playlist:
Thinking of You – Sister Sledge
Peg – Steely Dan
Love’s a Game – The Magic Numbers
Evil Ways – Rusted Root
She’s a Lady – Tom Jones
California Soul – Marlena Shaw
Lady Marmalade – LaBelle
People Everywhere (Still Alive) – Khruangbin
Save Me – Gotye
A Little Bit – The Ghost Twins
Hand Over My Heart – The Secret Sisters
Faraway Look – Yola
Something Got Me Started – Simply Red
Every Kinda People – Robert Palmer
Stoned – Lewis Taylor
Saint – Texas
When We Are Together – Texas
Squeeze Me – Kraak & Smaak
Wine Glass Woman – Mayer Hawthorne
History Repeating – The Propellerheads with Shirley Bassey
This Town – Frank Sinatra
Maybe Tomorrow – Stereophonics
I Love You but Damn – Smokey Brights
The Fox – Elton John
Emotional Love – John Mellencamp
Kiss and Tell – Bryan Ferry
Lose That Girl – Saint Entienne
Sad Music – Jessica Winter
When the Morning Comes – Daryl Hall and John Oates
Sugar Tongue – Indigo Girls
Sooner or Later – Fleetwood Mac
Don’t You Want Me – Stella Starlight Trio
Never Going Back Again – Fleetwood Mac
Jolene – Dolly Parton
Light of a Clear Blue Morning – Dolly Parton
Me and My Arrow – Harry Nilsson
Where Will I Be – Emmylou Harris
Share the Moon – Indigo Girls
The Power – Cher
I Saved the World Today – Eurythmics
I Love Paris – Ella Fitzgerald
Carla Etude/Fanfare/Chloe – Elton John
Sunspots – Bob Mould
Goodbye – Emmylou Harris
The Very Thought of You – Nat King Cole

The Supreme Court has ruled that the state of New York cannot enforce strict COVID restrictions on houses of worship.

Neil Gorsuch proves what a smug asshole he is in this ruling.
He and his merry band of Fascists say the health and welfare of the general public must be put at risk so the American deplorables can worship their little imaginary blonde Jesus in the sky.

Fuck them all.

What? Who?

Aaron Van Langevelde.

And he should be the future of the Republican Party.

Politico takes a look at Mr. Van Langevelde, and the major, patriotic role he played in keeping our democratic republic intact against the authoritarian, dangerous president. The piece is definitely worth your reading time.

Not only will he forever be labeled a loser and a one-term president, historians are already calling Donald Trump’s presidency a complete failure and the worst in United States history.

When you beat presidents like James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Warren Harding, and Herbert Hoover to the bottom of the heap, you know you really, really sucked.

Another update on the national popular vote:

As of 10:00am, PT, 25 Nov:
Biden/Harris: 80,086,825 (51.1%)
Trump/Pence: 73,8902,604 (47.1%)

Fun facts:

Biden’s current total breaks Barack Obama’s record for most votes ever won by a presidential candidate by over 10 million.

Biden’s percentage of the vote (a solid majority of 51.1%) is the highest figure for a challenger who beat a sitting president since 1932, when Franklin Roosevelt won a whopping 57.4% against President Herbert Hoover during the Great Depression. Ronald Reagan won 50% against President Jimmy Carter in 1980, and Bill Clinton won 43% (in a three way race) against President George H.W. Bush in 1992.

Biden’s six million vote margin, while nowhere near a landslide, is rather comfortable. The allocated 306 votes in the Electoral College is also a relatively comfortable total.

For reference, Harry Truman was elected to a full four year term of his own in 1948 with 49.5% of the popular vote and 303 electoral votes; John Kennedy was elected in 1960 with 49.7% of the popular vote and, like Truman, 303 electoral votes. Both men are often considered among the 10 best presidents in U.S. history.

I would say, then, that while we need to see how he and his team perform, Joe Biden starts out in pretty damn good company.