Austin, TX
A few years back, I decided that I was giving up the fight on “begging the question.” I know the correct use of the term, but it’s almost never used that way. Usage changes, and at some point you go from being “correct” to being “a pedantic asshole”, and that’s the time to give it up. I may not use “begs the question” to mean “raises the question” but realistically, that’s what it means now and that fight is over.
This year, I’m giving up on the goatee. The word “goatee” is usually used to describe any beard without sideburns. In ye olden days, that’s not what it meant:
FWIW, I think he looks quite dashing with that Van Dyke.
I decided to give this one up while reading a thread on Twitter discussing which celebrities should and should not wear goatees. Properly speaking, none of them had goatees, but who cares? Everyone knew what they meant. Usage changes. As P.J. Fry once said: “Time makes fools of us all.” Henceforth, they’re all goatees. It was a dumb thing to take a stand about, wasn’t it?
I should make this a new Christmas tradition: Give up being a pedantic dork about terms that don’t mean what they used to mean, or maybe they do, but no one uses them that way and who cares anyway? I like that. Let’s circle back on that next year.
The new Lil Jon song featuring the Kool Aid Man is all the rage this year, and with good reason; it’s one of the best Christmas songs I’ve ever heard. There’s probably no better hype man for Lil Jon than the Kool Aid Man, and the song just confirms to me that Lil Jon is one of the chillest dudes out there.
Searching for other songs to put on the mix this year, I came across this gem by Slade. You may know them as the band who did the original (and vastly superior) versions of every Quiet Riot single. They’re also the best-dressed band of the seventies, if you’re into glam-meets-hard-rock-by-way-of-English-thrift-shops (and honestly, who isn’t?). I know it’s probably too late to add it to your rotation this year, but keep it in mind. You’ll be the coolest holiday DJ, especially if you’re showing the videos as well:
Here’s a video my wife put together featuring some highlights from our 2018. She’s awfully good at putting these things together and I wanted to share it with all 16 of you who are likely to see it. Happy whichever holiday you chose to celebrate. I hope you get what you want out of this winter, and that you’re happy and safe.
-RK
(If the video doesn’t play, you’ll want to pop it out into another window. Something to do with third-party cookies and Google Drive.)