Still exploring at what point in youth culture we changed without realising we were being changed by those influencing tastes. There was a plethora of largely positive songs where male and female looked at each other at least … why did it change?

Aspiration and avarice … bands tried to become more complicated for street cred, hence the wow factor with jarring guitars competing, music was almost dead by 1968/9, then came the turgid Pink Floyds and the screaming Black Sabbath and Cream … and the change of path from fun to … whatever … cleverness … was signposted by Led Zeppelin in 1971, after the Beatles had gone Swami and broken up, after the drug-addled, STD ridden Woodstock, also the change in education into regressive, uneducated … Hendrix died, Joplin, Jim Morrison …

… and Plant had sung about it in Stairway to Heaven … there are two paths … youth had been heading upwards or so it seemed, so bands like Zeppelin and Jefferson Airplane, plus the new metal speed guitar freaks, turned it onto the road to hell and youth dutifully followed, as if behind a Pied Piper … anything melodic was passé, twee … the hidden culture makers behind the scenes were directing it, as they had created flower power, beat generation, hippies … Leary and psychedelics … now it was the road to hell, which yoof saw as kool.

Kids or just past kidhood … we had to be kool, man, had to be with the latest wow … we were led away from “wholesome” … that was so L7 … for the newest cheap, risque trick … as kids are wowed by. Punk was light years from the melodic … it was all frenzied darkness … except the Ramones who at least brought old rockabilly back into it.

When did Ian Curtis suicide? 1980, just as ska was enjoying a couple of years … then the depressing 80s … decade of nothingness … kids had grown up, were having families themselves or else it was all sex and no commitment … late 80s was acid house, followed by Betty Boo and rap style … everything dark in nature. Or else yuppy paradise for the aspiring new, powerdressed middle.

First half of the 90s was at least some attempt to bring back music, but it was lost by 1997, just as the lost generation started … Gen Zee … generation of being sold short, badly educated, diverted into perversion, as primary children. Not unlike the Eloi. May as well not even mention the 2000s and later … and here we are.

Naturally, most will not accept my case above … some might.

 

“A fey, light-hearted frolic that almost floats away on its own marshmellowy charm, “The Mouse That Roared” served to introduce American audiences to the man who would reshape film comedy in the 1960s much the way his countrymen the Beatles did with pop music.

Yes, that’s Peter Sellers making what amounted to his debut as an over-the-title star, playing not one but three roles. First, he’s Count Rupert Mountjoy, prime minister of the tiny nation of Grand Fenwick, who hatches the scheme of declaring war on the United States in order to quickly surrender and reap Marshall Plan-style aid. Then he’s Tully Bascombe, the nearsighted leader of the Fenwick expeditionary force, who stumbles upon a weapon to force an American surrender. Finally, he’s the Grand Duchess Gloriana, ruler of Grand Fenwick and very keen on war so long as no one gets hurt.

With that premise, and Sellers in the driver’s seat, you expect more than “Mouse That Roared” delivers. Not that it’s bad, or unentertaining. But after a rousing opening 20 minutes spent basking in Fenwick’s goofy ambiance and establishing the daring plot, the film loses steam; first moving the action to an unconvincing Manhattan setting, then inserting a romantic subplot between Tully and an American girl (Jean Seberg) which features neither actor to good effect. The comedy is never sharp, but over time it becomes forced, recovering a bit only at the end.

It’s a shame because the premise, as said, offers much, and director Jack Arnold, while no Kubrick, seems to appreciate both Sellers’ gift for light comedy and the kind of film which suits that best. At times, especially with some inspired breaks from the action, “The Mouse That Roared” feels more like an Ealing comedy than the Ealing comedy Sellers actually made four years before, the far darker “Ladykillers.”

“Mouse” has an edge to it, regarding the folly of mutually assured destruction and American hegemony, yet it manages to couch this very cleverly by emphasizing how essentially good the U.S. really is. You try selling the idea of a film showcasing a successful sneak attack against New York, in which the attackers are presented as the good guys. Yet “Mouse That Roared” was a monster hit, and for that Arnold and his team deserve credit.

“Only an imbecile could have won this war, and he did!” complains Mountjoy of Bascombe, seeing no good in holding America hostage with a football-shaped explosive device 100 times more powerful than an H-Bomb.

Sellers is distinctive if not a laugh magnet in his three roles, but the film suffers from poor supporting work around him. Except for Leo McKern, playing Mountjoy’s scheming ally, no one distinguishes him- or herself around Sellers, and a couple of key performances are gratingly bad. The humor of the Fenwickians being mistaken as spacemen by Manhattanites is beaten to the ground, as is the “comedy” of Tully’s gang peppering the QEII with arrows as it passes them on the ocean.

History favors the big battalions, but comedy loves the underdog. Here you are presented with a vehicle for an underdog who would prove every bit as worthy of our favor as Chaplin or Keaton, though it would take better films to make that point.”

(1115) Elevenses. (1129)

 

10. Moosh corner

9. Why is it always this type?

8. Migrant stats

7. Brennan’s close friend the lawyer

 

There are two carols I like to reserve for the last two nights of Advent … t’other is Silent Night in a German square. Both are serious plus joyful as well, colourful … the singer today is known as coloratura.

This is especially poignant today as I just had a letter from Amfortas’s son … still holding on but slipping … going to happen to us all. His son said that Chris had mentioned me quite a few times. Amfortas was a Catholic Knight, so this below would be right up his street I’m thinking. Prayers as requested please patrons.

One departs … a child is born. Makes a person think. Chris Rea yesterday.

… is showing signs of being overturned and this overturning is being spearheaded by young Gen Zee ladies, at least in America, backed by antiWoke men. Against this … the monstrous regiment of Wokerati, male and female, still reigns, e.g. von Leyen … for how much longer?

To say that males have simply “checked out” is the understatement of the late 20s but at the same time, antifeminazi women are surging, esp. online, such as this young lady below.

For a start, there’s the content within the youtube which really should be watched by westerners male and female … the insights are many. But at the same time, the very thing the two ladies are arguing against … dominance and feminisation of almost all key roles in society … they undercut their own argument by their own sharp analyses and most pleasant style of presentation.

Precisely what they’re doing here is their forte, among so many fortes. As I was writing now, a ticker message came up of a new vlog by Ruairidh … one of the classier males, as sharp as a tack. We have insightful males at this blog … but we also have two sharp cookies at least in the female dept.

Just as this Christine does, I also wish to set aside the sheer hostility of one sex towards the other today, mocking, scoring points … and yes, I’ve an ulterior motive, alluded to by these young ladies as well:

All right, personally I find them delightfully OTT but hey … they’re young, what on earth do you expect? There are plenty appearing now too … voluble, not shrill, sane, with all the other assets as well … they’re a major component in our war to overturn the hegemony of Wokery. And it’s increasingly their world now, no longer ours.

(0715)(0829)

 

6. Steve at 1240

• Kushner and Witkoff Reportedly Draft $112B Plan to Turn Gaza Into ‘Smart City’ With Beach Resorts, High-Speed Rail, and AI Grids
• Christians Being Slaughtered in Burkina Faso – Jihadist Violence on the Rise
• Merz betrayed. Macron ready to meet Putin. Graham wants Russian tankers seized. Podolyak dismissed
• Major heart health shift: Inflammation now a top predictor of heart disease, surpassing cholesterol
• Russia’s facial recognition programme rolls out to primary schools
• Much, much more over there.

(0637) Morning all. (0703)

 

5. Life in London

4. Cornish request

3. DAD at 1240

a) A year has passed since Bruno Retailleau, French Minister of the Interior between September 2024 and October 2025, initiated a tightening of the regularization policy, notably through a circular issued in January.

b) Broken and Defeated, Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission is a sinking ship.

c) The EU could be gone in four years: a revolutionary eruption is coming. In 1988, if you had told anyone that the Soviet Union would cease to exist just four years later, you would have been dismissed as a crank.

d) Another nail in the EU coffin ? Belgium wins battle over Russian assets, EU to lend Ukraine €90bn instead.

2. Over at OoL

https://orphansofliberty.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-greenhouse-effect-bollox.html

(0511) I was going to save this for Thursday but then thought why not now? Is there some Law which says it cannot be now? (0526)

The whole Christmas festivity

Finally coming to the “bah humbug” scrooges, they keep repeating the phrase, I’m assuming they mean the time of year, the anachronisms, the commercialism, the stables versus a room in the inn, the santa thing and reindeer and I throw in another …

… the sabbath was made for Man, not Man for the sabbath:

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” is a famous quote from Jesus in the Bible (Mark 2:27) that means rules, including religious ones, should serve human well-being, not become burdens; it emphasizes compassion, rest, and flexibility over rigid, harmful legalism, highlighting that the Sabbath is a gift for human flourishing, rest, and connecting with God, not just a set of strict prohibitions. Jesus used this to justify acts like healing on the Sabbath, showing that serving people’s needs is more important than strict, rule-bound interpretations of the law.

That also touches on:

“Whited sepulchres” (or whitewashed tombs) is a biblical metaphor from Jesus’s teachings (Matthew 23:27) describing hypocrites: people who appear outwardly righteous, beautiful, or holy but are inwardly full of spiritual corruption, deadness, and moral decay, like tombs painted white to look clean but containing filth. It signifies a focus on external show rather than inner truth, criticizing religious figures who seem pious but lack genuine virtue.

And that gets onto pomposity and regalia, incense, much speaking, vain repetitions, like chants, as the thing worshipped rather than the Logos or Word itself.  And the Word is Jesus and the sacrifice is Himself, from my reading.

Do we drop resting on the seventh day? No … Man needs it.  And because we can’t identify the exact day in the year to commemorate the birth, do we therefore  not bother marking the event happening at least sometime in the year, by definition?  Do we just not bother at all?

And what if someone in the west says … let’s do it on December 25th. Or in the east … let’s do it on January 6th/7th.  Will the two “sides” start a war over that?  Slaughtering millions?

Or will we symbolically remember on a day we’ve come to do that … may as well be done then. And what of the three days between death and resurrection? Do we observe that principle or do we fight over precisely at what time it starts and finishes, to the minute?

So, in going with the December 25th or the January 6th, depending where it is in the world, or even late September (which I personally think might be more the case, from my reading) … what do I say to the January 6thers?  I say let it be so, as long as all the key elements are covered, e.g. the Last Supper sometime part way into the year.

Wise men? Magi?  Shepherds?  Why not? But what about the Nativity scene with wise men or three kings of the Orient in it?  Anachronistic, though symbolic.  I’m thinking … let it be so, as long as the key elements are covered and especially if it defines “the west”.  But “the east” is also important … so why would they go to war because the WEFers and EU say so?  Just who are they anyway?

Finally in this rant … why have all these carols?  Or not … let’s forget all about it?  I say no, don’t forget them, let them run, let it be so.  The infant at a school nativity play singing, “Blessed Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head …” … why not?  Did He never lay down His head?  How did He sleep then? Was He not the Son of Man?

(1547) Remember yesterday … 0824 to 1555 dawn to dusk? Today 0825 to 1555 … even shorter day, yippee.

 

24. Chris Rea has just died, RIP

23. Steve at 1240 and war room

War Room snippets…

• Sarah From UK Warns America On Dealing With Malsi: If You Don’t Take Care Of This Right Now And Deal With It Right Now, You’re Doomed
• Glenn Story: The Malsification Of Texas Is The Biggest Threat
• Garland Favorito: More And More Fraud From The 2020 Election In Fulton County, Georgia, Is Being Discovered. They Are Now Facing $1.4 Million Dollars In Fines, And This Is Only The Tip Of The Iceberg
• Bannon: The Fani Willis Situation Is Jaw-Dropping. That’s Why The Patriots In GA Are Heroes. They Refuse To Let This Election Fraud Go! It’s Time For Hard Action. Send The Marshalls Down To Fulton County, Georgia, And Seize The Ballots!

22. Amfortas

I had a letter from Chris’s son … you obviously just thought the same that I did. Still with us, Amfortas … just … not great though. I’ll write back to the son now.

Those prayers please, patrons.

21. Honesty

20. Quiz question

19. Moosh corner

18. Steve at 1240

Hearts of Oak: The Week According To . . . Lee Harris.

https://twitter.com/HeartsofOakUK/status/2003091203508846865?s=20

17. Demonrat states

16. Steve and NZ (see comments)

Brian Tamaki:

🇨🇰🇨🇰🇨🇰 pic.twitter.com/1nv2fMzZuu

— Sir Tony (@babypolice4) December 20, 2025

JH: I’d say NZ is a real chance of wiping out the invaders because of that Maori factor … they’re take no prisoners warriors.

 

“Yep, it’s black & white and low budget but the film has great ideas and is executed incredibly well for the small amount of money they had to work with. The score by Bert Shefter and Paul Sawtell is probably the best the duo ever wrote. In fact, the title theme was so good it was re-worked for IT, THE TERROR FROM OUTER SPACE.

Some people have said they think that cartoon animation was used for walking shots of KRONOS. I think it is stop-motion model animation, especially since Gene Warren is one of those credited for special effects and stop-motion was his specialty. Regardless of how it was achieved, KRONOS is about as much fun as they get.

The special effects, while dated now were as good as anything else you would see at the time it was released. I love this film which fortunately, has been preserved on an excellent widescreen DVD. The film has an enduring quality about it and never ceases to entertain me no matter how many times I see it. If you just like to have a plain old good time watching a movie, then I highly recommend KRONOS.”