Bonus! Song o' the Midnight Mass

The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Mass during the Night)
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (featuring too many guest stars to name), "The Final Parade" from the The Final Parade single (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"The Church was hoping that the Midnight Mass
Was packed from the front to the back…"

Bonus! Moonshot Songs o' the Day: Apollo 8

Operation AXIOM: Destination Moon—The 57th Anniversary of Apollo 8
Public Service Broadcasting, "The Other Side" from The Race for Space (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

&

National Aeronautics & Space Administration, "Apollo 8 Excerpt 9" from The Apollo Missions (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Commentary:

"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a merry Christmas, & God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Advent—Please Stand By

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' Christmas Eve

The Puppini Sisters, "O Holy Night" from Christmas with the Puppini Sisters (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: The Puppini Sisters' rendition of "O Holy Night" has become a Christmas Eve tradition here at The Secret Base. Their harmonizing makes the song simply soar.

"Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever!
His power and glory ever more proclaim,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!"

The Stars My Destination: Apollo-Soyuz

Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (15-24 July 1975)
Apollo
Thomas Stafford, Commander
Vance Brand, Command Module Pilot
Donald "Deke" Slayton, Docking Module Pilot

Command Module: CSM-111

Soyuz 19
Alexei Leonov, Commander
Valery Kubasov, Flight Engineer

Capsule: Soyuz 7K-TM № 75

The Wayback Machine Tour of Apollo-Soyuz
"The Explorers' Club," № MXCIX: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz, Part I
Space Age Song o' the Day
Space Age Song o' the Day
"The Explorers' Club," № MC: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz, Part II
Space Age Song o' the Day
Space Age Song o' the Day
Space Age Song o' the Day
Space Age Song o' the Day
Space Age Song o' the Day
"The Explorers' Club," № MCI: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz, Part III

Commentary: I ought to have published this back in July, immediately after the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz, just as I did for the Apollo Moon missions in December 2022, hot on the heels of the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 17. Instead, I tarried, as I did in recapping the Skylab missions. I regret this tarrying as I regretted that tarrying.

January is scheduled to be a busy month for Space Shuttle anniversaries, but sometime in America's Semiquincentennial year of 2026 seems like a good time to re-recap all fifteen Apollo flights.

Rewatching Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-1969)

Episode o' the Day
"Mudd's Women" (season one, episode six; 13 October 1966): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "Mudd's Women" is better than I remember it being. Bonus! Watching how the men aboard the Enterprise reacted to Mudd's women, I could not help but recall the ENT episode "Bound" (season four, episode seventeen; 15 April 2005).

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

The Mighty Mighty Boostones, "This Time of Year" from the Medium Rare compilation (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary:

"The bells, the bows, and the flashing lights,
The mistletoes and the 'Silent Nights,'
It's all for show, and it's alright,
That's not why I love this time of year.

"It gets me and it never lets me
Act like I don't care,
This time of year is my favorite time of year
'Cause all of us are here together!

"The stores are packed with stuff to buy,
The shelves are stacked a mile high,
But back to what it is that I
Truly love about this time of year:

"It gets me and it never lets me
Act like I don't care,
This time of year is my favorite time of year
'Cause all of us are here together!…"

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

Brian d'Arcy James, "Michigan Christmas" from From Christmas Eve to Christmas Morn (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: My hometown of Grand Blanc is just north of Holly on the above map.

"And I want to be home with my family,
A Michigan Christmas is all I'm asking for, please…"

Rewatching Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-1969)

Episode o' the Day
"The Corbomite Maneuver" (season one, episode ten; 10 November 1966): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: "The Corbomite Maneuver" is another banger, a tense character study with a peaceful resolution. The Original Series was great right out of the gate, in contrast to the series in the Golden Age, which typically took a few seasons to ripen. Sure, the continuity of the early episodes is a mess (Captain Kirk identifies the Enterprise as a "United Earth" ship & the adversary is an ambassador from the First Federation), but that's because episodic television of the 1960s was a whole different animal than the ultra-serialized, world-building television of today.

My D.V.D. boxsets have the original visual effects, though someday I really should acquire a set of the show with the remastered effects from the Aughts. Below is the remastered First Federation flagship, the Fesarius, which is described as a sphere more than a mile in diameter.

Bonus! Song o' the Last Day o' Hanukkah

Barenaked Ladies, "Hanukkah Blessings" from Barenaked for the Holidays (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Hanukkah ends at sunset, approximately 5:03 P.M. here in sacred Michigan.

The Explorers' Club, № MCXXX

The Space Race—Astronaut Group 4 (the "Scientists"), Part II
Harrison Hagan "Jack" Schmitt (born 3 July 1935)—He flew Apollo 17 (America & Challenger, 1972); he was the first member of Astronaut Group 4 to fly & the twelfth of the twelve Moonwalkers; he was re-assigned from the cancelled Apollo 18 to Apollo 17 after intense lobbying by other lunar geologists, displacing Joe Engle; he was elected to the U.S. Senate from New Mexico, serving from 1977-1983.

Commentary: Schmitt worked for the U.S. Geological Survey, developing techniques for training astronauts to conduct field geology on the Moon, before his selection as an astronaut in 1965.

As of this publication, Senator Schmitt is still alive, age ninety.

Bonus! Space Race Song o' the Day: The Scientists—Jack Schmitt
They Might Be Giants, "Here Comes Science" from Here Comes Science (Space Cadet Mike Papa DSKY)

Commentary:

"Ready or not, here comes science…"

The Wayback Machine Tour of Jack Schmitt
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXXI: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 17, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXXII: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 17, Part II
"The Explorers' Club," № CMXXIII: The 50th Anniversary of Apollo 17, Part III

Ex Luna, Scientia.

Bonus! Song o' the First Day o' Winter

"The cruel, hot summer
led into the long, hard fall,
becoming the dark, killing winter
until spring replenished us all."
—Bill Willingham, Fables

The Winter Solstice
Sufjan Stevens, "The Winter Solstice" from the Sufjan Stevens Presents Songs for Christmas Singalong (In Stereo Hi-Fi) compilation (A.K.A. Songs for Christmas) (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: This is the longest night & the shortest day of the whole year. The long night was made all the darker in that last night was the New Moon, when all of the sunlight that reflects off the Moon reflected off the Far Side, the half of our planet's satellite that always faces away from us.

The "dark, killing winter" got off to a promising start, with morning temperatures in the single digits Fahrenheit, but the weather forecast is for temperatures in the forties & fifties by the Christmastide. Curses, foiled again!

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the IV Sunday o' Advent

The Fourth Sunday of Advent
The Civil Wars, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" from Tracks in the Snow (Penitent Mike Papa Whiskey)

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

The Klezmonauts, "Carol of the Bells" from Oy to the World: A Klezmer Christmas (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: An always haunting instrumental rendition.

Rewatching Star Trek (The Original Series, 1966-1969)

Episode o' the Day
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" (season one, episode three; 22 September 1966): Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Through the summer & the fall, I rewatched the first four seasons of Monk. I have four more seasons to go, but I wanted a change of pace. I ran a Twitter poll to help me decide between rewatching Star Trek (The Original Series) or Futurama. The vote was unanimous in favor of Star Trek; so, I decided to watch Futurama. However, after rewatching the first season of Futurama, I realized my real jones was for Those Old Scientists.

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the second pilot for Star Trek, after the original pilot, "The Cage" was rejected as too cerebral & lacking in action. It's counted as "season one, episode three" because it was the third episode broadcast; this rewatch will follow the production order, not the broadcast order.

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is a really good episode, digging into wild science fiction ideas about humans with E.S.P. potential mutating into powerful beings with delusions of godhood.

Saints + Scripture: Adventus

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

The Popish Plot
"Catholic T-shirt Club Unboxing: A Year of Hope"

'Tis the Friday of the Third Week of Advent: Advent-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Wayback Machine.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—December 19*
The Book of Judges, chapter thirteen, verses two thru seven, twenty-four, & twenty-five(a);
Psalm Seventy-one (R/. cf. verse eight), verses three & four(a), five & six(a,b), & sixteen & seventeen;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter one, verses five thru twenty-five.

Commentary: U.S.C.C.B. & Word on Fire. *The readings for December 17-23, featuring the O Antiphons, are set by date, whether those dates fall in the third or the fourth week of Advent.

Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, our Gospel today is from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, which is thoroughly drenched in Davidic themes from the Old Testament.

The first thing we hear about Zechariah is that he serves as priest in the Jerusalem temple; and David’s dream was to build the temple in which Zechariah serves. While in the sanctuary, Zechariah is visited by the angel Gabriel; and the temple locale and the announcement of the birth of a child against all expectations brings us back to Hannah’s pregnancy, which resulted in the birth of the forerunner to David. Indeed, Elizabeth’s words upon conceiving—“So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others”—powerfully evoke Hannah’s frame of mind when she, after many tears and much prayer, finally became pregnant.

What does this have to do with the life of Jesus? From beginning to end of his preaching career, Jesus’s central theme was the arrival of the kingdom of God, which was understood to mean the ingathering of the scattered tribes of Israel. And what becomes eminently clear in all of the Gospels is that this coming together would happen in and through Jesus himself, much as the knitting together of ancient Israel happened in the person of David. Jesus definitively fulfills what David himself left incomplete and unfinished.

Video reflection by Monsignor Robert Cannon (U.S.C.C.B.): Advent Reflection.

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

Matt Maher, "Jingle Bells" from The Advent of Christmas (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: This rendition of "Jingle Bells" is one of two, maybe three, secular Christmas songs on The Advent of Christmas.

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

Weezer, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" from the iTunes Holiday Sampler compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Bonus! Song o' the Wright Flyer

Beirut, "The Flying Club Cup" from The Flying Club Cup Mike Papa Whiskey)

Operation AXIOM
One hundred twenty-two years ago to the day, 17 December 1903, Wilbur & Orville Wright made the first four controlled, powered flights in the sand dunes near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The first flight, by Orville, covered a total distance of one hundred twenty feet, less than the wingspan of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet; the fourth flight, by Wilbur, covered eight hundred fifty-two feet, lasting nearly a minute. The Wright Flyer was damaged shortly after the fourth flight when overturned by a gust of wind, & would never fly again. The Wright brothers returned with the Wright Flyer II in 1904 & the much improved Wright Flyer III in 1905.

The Wright brothers made the first aeroplane flights, 17 December 1903, one hundred twenty-two years ago today.

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

The Puppini Sisters, "Here Comes Santa Claus" from Christmas with the Puppini Sisters (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary:

"Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus,
Right down Santa Claus Lane,
He doesn't care if you're rich or poor,
He loves you just the same.

"Santa knows that we're God's children,
That makes everything right,
Fill your hearts with the Christmas cheer,
'Cause Santa Claus comes tonight…"

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Advent—Please Stand By

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

Burl Ives, "A Holly Jolly Christmas" from the The Very Best of Burl Ives Christmas compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Burl Ives was a pro-Stalin Communist when he thought that advantaged him, but he later named names to H.U.A.C. to save his career. Christ came into the world to save us sinners, even soulless, Mammon-worshipping hypocrites like Ives.

The Explorers' Club Special

Operation AXIOM: The Space Race—The 60th Anniversary of Gemini VI-A
25 October 1965: Command Pilot Wally Schirra & Pilot Tom Stafford aimed to achieve rendezvous & docking with an Agena Target Vehicle; the Atlas-Agena rocket lifted off from Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, but the Agena exploded shortly after separation from the Atlas; the Gemini-Titan launch was scrubbed, the astronauts disembarked, & N.A.S.A. pondered how to salvage Gemini VI's mission.

12 December 1965: Schirra & Stafford boarded their Gemini capsule atop a Titan II G.L.V. for the second time, their revised mission to rendezvous with Gemini VII redesignated Gemini VI-A; the rockets fired, but cut off seconds later; launch abort mission rules called for the crew to use their ejection seats, a risky manuever, but the pilots knew they hadn't lifted off, stood by, & disembarked.

15-16 December 1965: Gemini VI-A lifted off from Florida's Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, with Command Pilot Wally Schirra & Pilot Tom Stafford aboard a Gemini spacecraft atop a Titan II G.L.V. rocket; they achieved the first rendezvous in space with Gemini VII, the two capsules maneuvering to within one foot; next day, they splashed down in the Atlantic & were recovered by the U.S.S. Wasp.

The Wayback Machine Tour of Gemini VI-A
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXXIX: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VI, Prelude
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXXXVIII: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VI-A, Part I
"The Explorers' Club," № DCCLXXXIX: The 55th Anniversary of Gemini VI-A, Part II
Space Race Song o' the Day

Commentary: Whereas Gemini VII was the last of the Gemini endurance missions, Gemini VI-A was the first of the Gemini rendezvous & docking missions. These shorter duration missions would typify the remainder of Project Gemini. The rendezvous of Gemini VI-A with Gemini VII was the first time two spacecraft rendezvoused on orbit & produced some of the most striking images from Gemini.

Trouble with the Agena Target Vehicle &/or the Atlas rocket would later plague Gemini IX-A.

Semper exploro.

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

She & Him, "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree" from A Very She & Him Christmas (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Curiously, I do not have the original version by Brenda Lee in my library.

The Explorers' Club, № MCXXIX

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars
15 December 1925: Reza Khan took the imperial oath as Shah of Iran, inaugurating the Pahlavi dynasty; an army officer, he led the 1921 British-approved coup d'état against Ahmad Shah Qajar, becoming war minister & army chief in the new government; he did not declare Iran a republic as Atatürk had done in Turkey, but was elected Shah according to the Persian Constitution of 1906.

Lest we forget.

Bonus! Song o' the First Day o' Hanukkah

Susan Egan, "We Are Lights/Shalom Alaychem" from Winter Tracks (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Hanukkah commences at sunset, 5:02 P.M. here in sacred Michigan.

The Rebel Black Dot Song o' the III Sunday o' Advent

The Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday)
Matt Maher, "Gabriel's Message" from The Advent of Christmas (Penitent Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: Pink!

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

Fountains of Wayne, "The Man in the Santa Suit" from the Out-of-State Plates compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: This morning was my Knights of Columbus council's annual Breakfast with Santa toy giveaway to the children of needy families. Our man in the Santa suit, a Knight, views being a Santa Claus as a vocation, working not in the mall but only for charitable events, especially those that serve children with mental impairments & developmental disabilities.

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day!

The Aquabats!, "Santa Claus's Party!" from I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas Too! E.P. (Captain Thumbs Up!)

The Explorers' Club, № MCXXVIII

Operation AXIOM: Between the Wars
11 December 1925: Pope Pius XI promulgated the encyclical Quas primas ("From the first…") in response to the Great War & the global wave of revolutions (1917-1923), reminding a secularizing world that true peace is only possible when Christ reigns as King in the hearts of men; the Feast of Christ the King was added to the Church calendar from 1926 & adopted by many Protestant groups.

Commentary: From 1926-1969, the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King was celebrated on the last Sunday before All Saints' Day (the last Sunday in October); since 1970, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe is celebrated on the last Sunday before the First Sunday in Advent (the last or second-to-last Sunday in November).

Lest we forget.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: In Memoriam

The Blues Brothers, "Sweet Home Chicago" from The Blues Brothers: Original Soundtrack Recording (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: In memoriam Steve "The Colonel" Cropper (21 October 1941-3 December 2025). Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, Cropper was friends with future Booker T & the M.G.s & Blues Brothers bandmate Donald "Duck" Dunn (24 November 1941-13 May 2012).

Requiescat in pace.

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

Reel Big Fish, "Lickle Drummond Bwoy" from the Happy Skalidays E.P. (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Probably R.B.F.'s most roots ska-sounding song.

The Explorers' Club Special: December 1915

Operation AXIOM: The World War
In December 1915, the Central Powers conquered Serbia, the British Indian force in Mesopotamia was beseiged at Kut-al-Amara, the Western Front took an ever more recognizable shape, & a young poet was killed, later to be memorialized in his fiancée's memoir, Testament of Youth.

The Wayback Machine Tour of the World War: December 1915
"The Explorers' Club," № CDLXXIV: The Serbian Campaign, Part IV: The Battle of Kosturino (6-12 December 1915)
"The Explorers' Club," № CDLXXV: The Siege of Kut, Part I (7 December 1915)
"The Explorers' Club," № CDLXXVII: General Sir Douglas Haig replaced Field Marshal Sir John French as commander of the British Expeditionary Force (19 December 1915)
"The Explorers' Club," № CDLXXVI: The Death of Roland Leighton (23 December 1915)

Lest we forget.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: In Memoriam

The Blues Brothers, "Soul Man" (live) from Briefcase Full of Blues (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: In memoriam Steve "The Colonel" Cropper (21 October 1941-3 December 2025). Cropper also played the guitar on the original recording of "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave.

"Play it, Steve!"

Requiescat in pace.

Operation ÖSTERREICH: Advent—Please Stand By

Please Stand By | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

Weekly Wednesday Weigh-in
Last weigh-in: 330.2 lbs. (12 June 2024)

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

Bite Me Bambi, "Holiday Cheer" from the Holiday Cheer single (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: Always drink responsibly, ladies & gentlemen.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: In Memoriam

Sam & Dave, "Soul Man" from the Rhino Hi-Five: Sam & Dave compilation (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Commentary: In memoriam Steve "The Colonel" Cropper (21 October 1941-3 December 2025). Cropper played the guitar on the original recording of "Soul Man" & is called out by name by Sam Moore, an aside repeated by John Belushi on the Blues Brothers' cover of "Soul Man" a decade later.

"Play it, Steve!"

Requiescat in pace.

The Rebel Black Dot Christmas Song o' the Day

The Chinkees, "Christmas" from Peace through Music (Rude Boy Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: This Advent & Christmas, please do something concrete to remember the poor. The King of the Universe was born poor, with a stable for His delivery room & a feeding trough for His bed.

"Sometimes, Christmas isn't like T.V.,
Some kids got no presents under their tree,
Their plates are empty, there's nothing to eat,
Holidays just remind them what they haven't got.

"That's why now sometimes, Christmas hurts!

"Sometimes, sometimes, Christmas hurts (Sometimes, Christmas hurts),
Sometimes, sometimes, Christmas hurts (Sometimes, Christmas hurts),
Sometimes, sometimes, Christmas hurts (Sometimes, Christmas hurts),
Sometimes, sometimes, Christmas hurts (Got no presents)…"

The Explorers' Club, № MCXXVII

Operation AXIOM: The 60th Anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, Part III
8 December 1965: Pope Paul VI closed the Council with Mass in Saint Peter's Square, with 300,000 in attendance; the day before, he & Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople read out the Joint Declaration & Pope Paul lifted the excommunication of the Orthodox that dated back to the Great Schism in 1054; simultaneously in Istanbul, the Orthodox excommunication of Catholics was lifted.

Bonus! Song o' the Day: Vatican II
Alpheus, "Unify" from Unify (Mike Papa Whiskey)

Skammentary: The Catholic-Orthodox Joint Declaration of 1965 didn't fully heal the schism between East & West, but it was a significant step toward obeying the Lord's command of unity.

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Second Vatican Council
"The Explorer's Club," № CMVII: The Second Vatican Council Opened (Part I)
"The Explorer's Club," № CMLIV: Pope John XXIII Died & Pope Paul VI Was Elected (Part II)

Semper exploro.