We won’t really know – for sure and for certain – what this Christmas told us about the economy for a while. Sure, there was a dandy run into the Christmas Eve early closes, but markets are set to give back a bit at the open today.
Early futures showed the Dow off 100 but smaller losses on the S&P and the techs. While the Street waits for the high-sign from retailers, the only major paper note is the Fed balance sheet which will be out after the close. Just in time not to matter until Monday.
But next week? Improvised Economic Devices include Trade Monday and then Housing Tuesday, so you’ll have to pardon our general skepticism. Buy the Rumor, anyone?
Happy Retailers?
Sure – for now, maybe. When the numbers come in, retailers anticipate record-setting shopping season despite economic concerns.
But looking back over the last year, we still see the ongoing street fight between Big Box Stores on the one hand and local hardscrabble merchants trying to keep the lights on. Like numerical data? The U.S. said goodbye to these 4 major retailers in 2025.
We won’t know absolute truth until monthly totals come in, but good luck finding parking spots on this Boxing Day 2025. Usefully, CNET popped Your Guide to Amazon, Apple, Walmart, Target and Other Retailers’ Holiday Return Policies.
Our take is “and many happy returns” with a side of “take the money and run.”
Silver Tests $75.
This one stood out in our morning review of futures pricing.
The basics of the move can be read in Silver jumps past $75 in extended record run for metals including gold and platinum.
But we are always a little bit concerned when the “big voices” start talk-down a price move like this. Silver’s runaway rally sweeps up amateur investors. Amateur investors? Oh really?
More pragmatically, Reuters offers some schooling on How silver is traded, from stocks and shares to coins and bars. But for our part? BTDT – been there, done that – and we may still be doing – we don’t tell.
One other Biggie on the Futures?
Copper -with a nearly three percent hike in prices overnight. Copper’s a worry because it usually firms and rises ahead of wars (shell casings and what-not).
Naturally, we looked around to see if there were any “flashing yellows” going off that could indicate the odds of major war in 2026 were increasing. Sure enough: Romania scrambled fighter jets amid Russian attack on Odesa Oblast.
For now, the pacifying press – preoccupied with “nurturing the narrative” – is trying to put on the “hopeful hat” with stories like Zelensky holds talks with US envoys as Russia sees ‘slow but steady’ peace progress. Apparently some drafts are ready for show-time and that, in turn drives Zelenskyy confirms planned meeting with US President Trump.
But hold the phone there, Bubba. Seems to us that with Trump standing down on NATO funding and with Russia still pushing west, the long-term outcome still colors-in as red (as in coming death and bloodshed) in Europe and before the next year is done.
Granted, we’re given to over-prepping for all possible outcomes. But Copper is rising (along with Gold and Silver). While this doesn’t support a full manic break, it does drive inventory and survivability checks.
Checking the News Scope
Why, look at the screen on the right! It sure looks like crap weather out west, doesn’t it?
Let’s zoom in: More rain expected in Southern California after flooding, mudslides batter region. Brings back the “multispectral life” experience of Burbank. Where, in one year, we went from water up to the floorboards of the car from rain and flooding to watching fires burn off the hills northeast of the city.
Orange Man Hate (OMH) – the best monetization going for liberal media is alive and well. Our “daily sampler pack” features ‘Something’s rotten’: Conspiracy theories fly as new DOJ Epstein note burned by both sides – Raw Story We’d also repeat that “Jimmy Kimmel” is not news but he’s a fine narrative rider: ‘Tyranny is booming’: Jimmy Kimmel targets Trump in alternative Christmas message.
Sometimes it’s the “news that didn’t happen” that helps: Turkey detains dozens of ISIS suspects allegedly planning attacks on Christmas and New Year celebrations.
Think(s) Without Links
From our “digital cub reporter” (J. Olsen) a two useful points to remember:
Health Signals That Aren’t Being Talked About
Post-holiday inflammation, sleep disruption, cognitive fog, blood sugar chaos, immune stress. Not medical advice, but pattern-level discussion. People feel off after Christmas and want to understand why without being sold supplements. We think too many carbs and undiagnosed celiac is probably a hidden pandemic…
AI, Automation, and the Quiet Job Squeeze
Not sci-fi. Not hype. Practical displacement anxiety. People are noticing tools getting better and humans being quietly sidelined. This resonates strongly with the 50+ crowd who are mentoring kids, managing businesses, or watching career ladders wobble. Our 27th year here reminds that debt reduction and elimination is the one-size cure for most social ailments.
Around the Ranch: Turkey Engineering
We went to bed around 7 PM last night. Not from working too hard. Carbie overdose was the problem.
See, I bought us a dual temp, wireless thermometer for the kitchen. (This one.)
I am totally impressed. The way it works is simple: There are two temperature probes. One I put into the (13 lb) turkey’s breast. The other went into the thigh at the thickest part, but not touching the bone.
The turkey was perfectly thawed in the fridge and was rested out of the fridge for several hours before going into an oven bag. At this point, the meat temps were around 54-degrees.
Into a hot – thermally-stable oven (thermal mass from the 25 pound pizza steel) – where the bird roasted breast-down at 325. Upon hitting 145, the bird was returned to the breast up position to finish.
Coming out at 160F breast and 164 thigh, it was set to rest in the oven bag for 40 minutes. Hit 181 and 171 resting. Which gave time to scissor the bag and get the drippings which went into gravy makings. And then with the breast temp down to 138 F George Scissorhands carved.
It was glorious. Tender, moist, done just so. And now I have plans to do a bone-in prime rib next week to kick the New Year off right. One thermometer just off the bone and centered, the other 2/3rds of the way up and 1/3rd of the way in. From which you ought to be able to create a FLIR-style mental heat map on your way to caloric perfection.
Was the dinner perfect? Well, no… I was unable even after a half-dozen phone calls to find a local foodarium that had any eggnog in stock.
Undeterred. I will be double-stocking (should any come in this week) and match that with a double-order of spiced rum.
We are still amazed at the sleep-inducing effects of boring TV and carbies, though. Nothing like conducting your own personal 10-hour sleep study, is there?
Not ahead of hefting another 3/4 ton of patio pavers – which we will get into on ShopTalk Sunday in part 1 of the new deck build…
Write when you wake up and smell the bacon, or coffee…
George@Ure.net
(Now, run over and read G.A. Stewart’s column “IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE – THE AGE OF DESOLATION. It’s a dandy of a column and touches much Deep Truth.)
Silver Kisses $75?
No way! $1/ounce!
https://www.amazon.com/Hershey-Kisses-Chocolate-Approx-60-Tundras/dp/B0BX7H4P1F/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?
*strums desk nervously, debating whether to call DHS….
I have his own personal favorite photo that hung on the wall autographed by him.. its a wonderful life..and a nice guy in real life..
I made my own personal funeral arrangements..no funeral..I had to have an obit though no choice in that one..just that I went on vacation and hope the temps are moderate where I end up..Dam its time to get ready for work..lucky though only six hours today
Hi George,
Sounds like your turkey turned out perfect. Just curious if you have ever tried an infrared turkey fryer? They taste just like a fried turkey but you don’t have all the mess from the oil. You just put a light coating of oil on the turkey if you want before cooking. You can check one out here: https://www.amazon.com/Char-Broil-TRU-Infrared-Oil-Less-Turkey-Fryer/dp/B001HBI7D8?th=1
Geat idea! Is it big enough to do a cat?
(OK, ok, kidding…well….er….sort of…)
cmon G cmon america . this is a joke . times up forget it . there are a lot more smarter and richer bears than me that wont stop . wake up
wheres the time and price studies ? times up . how long can you rig this thing . ? truly pathetic. threw every economic theory and principle out the window for feudalistic facism
Those Libs and the freebie paid .gov holidays –
“Most federal government offices are closed today, Friday, December 26, 2025, as President Trump signed an executive order designating this day, the day after Christmas, as a temporary federal holiday.”
“Amateur investors? ”
Back during Reagan days silver/gold were headed to the moon then suddenly stopped and reversed. Why did the stop/reverse happen?
The FTC found the Hunt brothers’ warehouse…
Sounds like a wonderful meal for a wonderful day!! I am going to try that myself next year!
Now let me spoil the season by putting on my “Debbie Downer” hat
Netanyahu is due at the White House on Monday so as to explain to Trump why the US needs to start bombing Iran again, in conjunction with Israel of course. Nothing creates a proper New Year’s Eve celebration like planning a super big “fireworks” show is there? If done by Netanyahu’s Plan it will put NYC’s New Years and even NYC’s 4th of July spectacles to shame!
More “Debbie Downer” news is that it is sad to see wrt New Year’s Eve that Quebec City for it’s New Year’s Eve fireworks show will be almost like being in Florida …. it is projected to be a balmy 17f degrees come midnight, which is a solid 25f to 35f warmer than what they normally would be expecting. They may have a hard time handling such a powerful heat wave. Come New Year’s day how will the cross river canoers practice for their upcoming Winter Festival when it is so warm? It is unlikely the canoer’s will be able to practice dragging their canoes across the typical mid river ice flows since it is unlikely any will exist with conditions so balmy!
Everybody have a great weekend … and for those of you who are now trying to evict overstaying guests and relatives I wish you the best of luck!
The Quebec Winter Carnival canoe race crosses the St. Lawence River (twice) which is filled with ice flows and moving quickly during the Quebec Winter Festival. Quite a sight to see
(doesn’t falling in the river and getting wet when the outside air temp is -20f, or colder, while dragging your canoe across moving ice flows sound like fun? many Quebecer’s think it does!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deVpx-iyi-I
Trump’s silver lined egg basket broke –
“Eggs, Big Macs Surge as Trump Battles Inflation Crisis
Eggs up 100%, Big Macs 50% as consumers flock to secondhand goods, dollar stores amid economic strain”
Are you better off than you were 11 months ago?
– Newsom
Bought eggs yesterday for $1.99 a dozen , gas $2.65 , big macs are bad for you.
and human DNA found in McDonald’s burgers.
where are the bodies of the 300,000 missing children each year in the USA?
The idea that McDonald’s burgers contain human DNA has circulated online for years, largely based on misinterpretations, hoaxes, or poor early tests. People sometimes point to isolated social-media claims or low-quality lab tests done by amateurs — but none of those are scientifically rigorous, peer-reviewed, or verified by reputable laboratories. When proper food-science labs analyze ingredients, they do not find human DNA as a purposeful ingredient in the food.
A few things to understand about why these rumors spread:
• DNA is Everywhere: DNA from many organisms — including humans — can be present in microscopic amounts on surfaces or in environments simply because of skin cells shedding, handling, or airborne contamination. That doesn’t mean the food contains human tissue as an ingredient.
• Contamination vs. Ingredient: If someone tested a hamburger bun with a sensitive DNA test and found trace human DNA, that could reflect a tiny trace of shed skin or saliva — which is common everywhere and not meaningful about what’s in the food itself.
• No Reputable Food Safety Authority Has Confirmed It: Agencies like the FDA, USDA, or academic food science labs have not issued findings that McDonald’s burgers contain human DNA as an intentional or substantial component.
• Urban Legends Thrive: This sort of claim often comes from people seeking sensational content. Early internet posts, YouTube experiments, or social challenges sometimes make dramatic claims without scientific controls.
So in clear terms: there is no verified scientific evidence that McDonald’s burgers contain human DNA as an ingredient.
Much better, thank you. With gasoline and eggs both under $2 (per gallon and dozen, respectively) and diesel under $3, we’re doing okay. I just bought my fourth 79¢ per pound ham in the past two weeks (gave two away…)
It sucks that Mr. Newsom has trashed the California economy, and after chasing the refineries out, Californicators will soon see gasoline in the $12-$13 range and diesel close to 15 bucks per gallon. I’m sorry the rest of the country will get slammed with food costs, because we are going to have to subsidize Cali farmers’ and transporters’ fuel costs.
None of this was caused by either the Trump Acministration or Trump policies. Agenda-driven neocoms will undoubtedly blame the Administration, and really stupid people will listen (and echo) this blame, but in-truth, it will be a State-caused, not a Fed-caused issue.
Most California produce sucks because conditions are so good, stuff grows so fast that it is nutritionally-deficient and has little to no taste. This is why Hunt’s, Heinz, Brooks, Del Monte, and virtually every other purveyor of tomato products acquires said product from a small town in North-Central Indiana. It’s why the best canned peaches come from Georgia and pie peaches come from Michigan, cantaloupes come from Southern Indiana and watermelons from Appalachia. All that stuff is grown in Cali. It grows fast and looks beautiful. It also tastes like flavored water.
Come to think of it, it pisses me off that I’m going to have to subsidize substandard produce because Greasy Newscum is the most-recent in a long line of slimy Leftist governors who’ve systematically destroyed California…
And now he wants to do the same things to the rest of the USA.
I’m glad I live in a progressive state where the gas junkies have to switch:
https://www.wri.org/insights/ca-oil-refineries-just-transition
‘In-state consumption of gasoline has been declining since 2017, a trend projected to continue. While Californians consumed around 13.8 billion gallons of gasoline in 2021, this is expected to drop to 8 billion by 2030 and to less than 2 billion gallons by the 2040s.’
CA has highest ownership of EV’s:
https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/states-leading-the-ev-revolution
‘California maintains its commanding lead with over 1.3 million EVs on the road.’
R, munch on this, AI gets it right on agricluture:
Yes, California is the #1 agricultural state in the U.S., leading the nation in farm production value, supplying over half of the country’s fruits, nuts, and vegetables, and generating tens of billions in sales annually, making it a global agricultural powerhouse for commodities like dairy, almonds, grapes, and lettuce.
Key Facts:
Top Producer: California consistently ranks as the nation’s largest agricultural producer by sales value, accounting for nearly 11% of total U.S. farm output.
Fruits, Nuts, Veggies: The state grows about 50% of the U.S.’s fruits, nuts, and vegetables, including nearly all artichokes, broccoli, and celery.
Major Commodities (2024): Top products by value include Dairy Products (milk), Almonds, Grapes, Cattle & Calves, Lettuce, and Strawberries, notes the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
Economic Impact: Its industry generates over $100 billion in related economic activity, with over 400 different commodities grown.
Global Exporter: California is also the top U.S. agricultural exporter, with significant shipments of almonds, pistachios, dairy, and wine.
Troubled former Nickelodeon star Tylor Chase was hospitalized on Christmas Day for a three-day detox, according to a family helper who said the homeless addict’s “future is looking bright.”
https://nypost.com/2025/12/26/us-news/homeless-tylor-chase-hospitalized-on-christmas-day-we-finally-got-tylor-the-help-he-needed/
G.A. STEWART: Most of the ill-winds that I have had to deal with in this life were generated by people with substance abuse problems; from family members to coworkers, these are people who make life difficult and a do-or-die situation.
Strangely enough, God just presented me with two glaring examples. When I first entered the hospital, I had to wait several days in one hospital for an opening at my state’s best hospital for open-heart surgery, which was only a few miles away from where I live. My roommate in the first hospital was a 74-year old homeless man who was checking out that same day. The hospital had done what it could for him, but he lived at a shelter and he did not even have bus fare to get back there. After overhearing his conversation with the nurses, I tried to help as best as I was capable.
I know someone who operates shelters for the homeless through his church. I tried to contact them, but it was late and so, upon this man’s discharge from the hospital, I gave him the address and some transportation money to get him there. It is a sad road that he faced, and I am quite sure that he never got there. Is it heartless to say, “I know the type” or is it just reality?
In fact, I had a very in-depth conversation one Saturday morning at the local breakfast cafe with this person who runs several shelters for the homeless across two cities. He acknowledged the intractable tide of trying to help people with no interest in help; it was overwhelming and sometimes futile.
https://theageofdesolation.com/nostradamus/2025/12/24/its-a-wonderful-life/
Glad to hear from you Stu. I wish you a better New Year.
Charity is good for the soul, but let the professionals distribute the alms to the head cases; drunks are head cases. My late father and I compared notes when I was in my forties, and every serious transgression we had suffered up until that time had a mean drunk instigator. Since then I have added doctor shoppers, dope heads, and cluster B & C personality disorders to the rogue’s gallery. It isn’t heartless to keep unstable people at arms length, even as you privately lobby for their welfare. The State and Federal governments bought into the pharma narrative of closing the state MH facilities with copious application of pharma, and the resulting humanitarian crisis is not really our doing.
The ACLU did that, closed the mental hospitals on ALL of ours’ behalf!!!
Wasn’t that nice?
JM Bullion is out of anything but 2025 or 2026 silver monster boxes at $43,295.
Looks like PM nosebleed pricing. Does that mean rarer boxes are pushing $50K? That would pay for property taxes for quite a while.
Too visible a transaction at these prices.
I had an enormous argument with a dear family member who was already in plenty of spec. plays suggesting a Monster Box was worth having to stabilize his (crazy) portfolio. Nope. I was wrong. Until I was right. Still, these parabolic moves lend to selling. Prolly in the New Year to hazard a guess. ~ E ~
Today the silver boxes are up to $44,190. If you bought at <$10K, give yourself a pat on the back.
So, if Comex folds, how high or low could the PM prices go?
The PM bugs claim that all the pricing is so manipulated by the futures traders, that there is no real free market price discovery underlying the PM markets. Traditional pre-civil war ratio of gold / silver was around 14.9. It peaked in the mid 120's in 2020, and has come down quite a bit since.
Probably the upper crazy limit for silver would be over $150K a box with gold at it's present level, based on traditional ratios.
Using opposite analysis, the lower limit for gold would be $1311 or so.
Neither scenario is particularly likely or credible.
The current move up by gold and silver may be a leading indicator of a move in the direction of untainted price discovery in the PM markets.
George… thanks for the tune recommendations. It will be fun to add those to our repertoire. Our resident ukulele and harmonica virtuoso (who has 40000nm sea time on square riggers) would certainly be all for adding them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luQ8tqJ4kxg
Every day has a silver lining, unless you run the desk at JPM.
Stiks
Just for fun… Ted Bear, (he’s 78… got him when I was one year old).
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kZ35JU4k26Y
As long as it’s ‘the holidays… what the hell. When you are at sea for a couple weeks entertainment is essential.
Stiks
Stock market and electricity power issues?
Did you mean: who is braga watt?
AI Overview
“Bragawatt” is not a person, but a slang term
used within the data center and AI infrastructure
industries. The term describes the tendency of
companies to announce massive,
gigawatt-scale data center projects, often to
generate hype or intimidate competitors,
rather than for realistic, immediate execution. ”
he term was coined by the head of i
nfrastructure at the investment firm KKR,
Waldemar Szlezak, who has advised clients
to “look beyond the bragawatts”.
Key aspects of “bragawatts” include:
Hype vs. Reality: The announcements often
involve projects for which the necessary
permits, financing, or power interconnections
have not been fully secured.
Market Signaling: Companies may overstate
their capacity to secure a place in the
power grid’s interconnection queue or to
impress investors.
Industry Context: The term reflects the
current race among
tech giants (like those in the AI space) to
build immense data center capacity,
leading to a lot of noise and making it
difficult to distinguish between speculative
and shovel-ready projects.
There are a lot of shovels in the ground right now, Bill. I had to work four days last week. That’s the most I have worked in a Christmas week, probably in 40 years. And I am babysitting data access structure changes on my machine this weekend. Data center related support work rolled in like a tsunami during the fall; not really seeing a slowdown so far.
re: “Turkey Engineering Success”
feat: New Cities’ gamey flavor
Truth be told my family’s festive turkey dinner arrived at the minute of promised delivery via a kitchen’s contracted smartphone app. Perhaps the same may be said of Russian cargo carrier Gelix Airlines whose Santa sleigh journeyed from Chelyabinsk (“settlement of noble Turkic figure”) to ‘near’ Noshahr (“New City”), Iran according to a public flight tracker. After gifts were opened, the Boxing Day turnaround flight saw the plane departing Istafan (“place where armies gather”) to Novosibirsk (“New Siberian City”). The latter had been known prior to 1926 as Novonikolayevsk in honour of Tsar Nicholas II and Saint Nicholas. Here is a public flight tracker link to the recent Gelix Airlines activity by one of its sleighs:
https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/ra-76373
As chance would have it, Novosibirsk features as the setting of a cobalt bomb detonation according to a trio of “Metro” gaming titles by a Kyiv, Ukraine-founded game developer, 4A Games. The series is based upon the “Metro” novels starting in the early 2000’s by Russian-Israeli author Dmitry Glukhovsky. However, while perhaps less than clearly stated, it seems that his inspiration came from the like-named “Metro 2033” published in Esperanto in 1933 by Soviet author Vladimir Varankin. Stalin’s Administration found the story about a post-apocalyptic Moscow “ideologically unuseful” and Mr. Varankin ceased existence in October, 1938.
As chance would have it, 4A Games decamped several years ago from Kyiv to Malta. Now the company is subsidiary to Europe’s largest game studio owner headquartered in Sweden.
I’m getting ready to give Halli boatanchors to two grandlings, after giving Elenco kits to their male parental units (I was surprised. The guys are absolutely thrilled with the kits.) I frankly expected feigned appreciation (y’know, like you get when you give someone a Christmas cake?) When they spend 20 minutes walking around, reading the instructions, after gift-giving is past, you know you’ve scored a winner…
I mentioned that the kits could be “husband-wife” or “daddy-daughter” projects, which is my way of giving the gift of “education” as my satellite families get their first semester of practical electronics on me. AFAIK none of the dads have any experience with a soldering pencil. Target kids range in age from 11-18, which should be old enough to learn elementary electronics, without getting bored (chosen kits were all like “Level 1-2” Heathkits, not like Burroughs mainframes.) Also, the Elenco kits are without case or cabinet. I gave the families 3D printers last year. Cases for the Elenco project kits are all freely-available on the 3D files archives.
Bitcoin pair drops to $24K on world’s largest exchange in flash crash
The BTC/USD1 pair briefly slid to $24,000 for a few seconds on Binance on Christmas Eve.
https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/bitcoin-pair-drops-to-24k-on-worlds-largest-exchange-in-flash-crash
Bitcoin Dramatically Drops Below $25,000 In Biggest Christmas Day Flash Crash
https://www.tradingview.com/news/zycrypto:9fbc3b981094b:0
What Caused Bitcoin’s Flash Crash to $24,000 on Binance’s USD1-BTC Pair
https://www.ccn.com/education/crypto/bitcoin-price-crash-24000-binance-usd1-btc-pair-explained/
Bitcoin briefly trades at $24,000 on Binance’s USD1 pair in flash move
https://cdn.sanity.io/images/s3y3vcno/production/79d1ce0e4497ebbd6c8ac6a24a261c194a818c85-1080×1706.jpg
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/12/25/bitcoin-briefly-trades-at-usd24-000-on-binance-s-usd1-pair-in-flash-move
And BCN missed it…
my point of ranting for decades and I argue that frequently instead of doubling down on the big utility business model — massive solar farms, huge wind turbines, and endless transmission upgrades — a far more efficient approach would be to build smaller solar towers at existing substation boosters and connect every homeowner with simple gridtie solar kits… the big centralized production units like the multi billion dollar solar facility was a failure because instead of doing the job cheaper and more efficient the companies tried to do it in a way that would maintain the ineffective business models currently used..now they still could maintain the control in a similar fashion to the one they now use limiting power during peak power demand times. In the model I have proposed since fourteen is, each house becomes a power producing node feeding the local Smaller solar tower, reducing long distance transmission losses, lowering infrastructure costs, and keeping energy generation closer to the people who actually use it. It’s a decentralized system that could be cheaper, more resilient, and far less dependent on the old centralized control structure that utilities still rely on. But then I’ve been told a lot lately that I’m an unseen motivated F@#king Moron and what could I possibly know to contribute to any thing..
Here’s what I in-vision for a solar tower at every substation..three hundred feet high by what thirty feet wise three sided one point north one point to the south east one point to the southwest.. the result is one side is full direct southern exposure and the full spectrum of the sun is caught..maximum out put around a megawatt to two megawatts.. its not to produce full supplies but as a mini grid activating the nodes or homes and businesses.. like a river..water flows and it doesn’t care from which direction its coming from…
https://copilot.microsoft.com/shares/NM1RyMhW2t9VdfLcFzvLU
thanks to AI I could get what I clearly see in my mind as a picture..
LooB : “… keeping energy generation closer to the people who actually use it. It’s a decentralized system …”
full agreement, if I might add, the centralized thing should be settling on design and mass marketing the bits and pieces. this is how Euros went _big_ in nuclear power. then they went green? now … the trains don’t run on time. ~E~
OowS : “… Are you better off than you were 11 months ago? …”
Y
E
re: “Looking for Merry?”
feat: Prime Meridian & 20500
The London-commuter town of East Grinstead (“Green Place”) mentioned in the 11th century “Domesday Book” rests alongside Greenwich’s Prime Meridian. It’s still-extant Sackville College serving needs of seniors since the 1620’s saw the 1853 writing of Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslas” under its roof. A 10th century king and his Page brave the elements to bring help to a peasant on St. Stephen’s day, December 26th. St. Stephen is the first saint of the Church, and was stoned to death. Interestingly the tune for the carol is lifted directly by College staffer Mr. Neale from that of Tempus Adest Floridum (“The Season of Bloom Has Arrived”) appearing in 1582’s Finnish hymn book Piae Cantiones (“Pious Songs”). Apparently Mr. Neale received the tome from a diplomat having two wives, and whose roots boasted familial connection with Lord Byron as well the PM who saw England enter the Crimean War in 1854.
Led Zeppelin fans possibly make pilgrimage to the band’s former estate near East Grinstead, Hammerwood Park, designed by architect B.H. Latrobe in 1792. He is also credited in the same year with design of nearby Saint Hill Manor, now serving as UK headquarters of the Church of Scientology. Today, the “Daily Mail” published lengthy coverage of the church’s Patrons Ball fundraiser held last October at the manor. The event allegedly was poorly appreciated by local townsfolk despite a Tom Cruise chopper flypast at low altitude.
Here is a “Library of Congress” link to a Washington White House drawing from 1803 by architect B.H. Latrobe:
https://www.loc.gov/item/2001698951/
Perhaps a said-to-be soon visiting Ukrainian President can bring design input for the new Ballroom along with his plans for peace.
gold and silver to the moon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeehhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaa shorts dead . boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm times