Mr. Socialist confesses a love of opera Free enterprise is fascinating, especially for us socialist communists who want to make the world into a dormitory with a cafeteria where on Mondays everyone has mac and cheese and on Tuesdays franks and beans, and so forth, but with free enterprise you get to see old empires crash and bold upstarts take over the town, such as Uber and Lyft have done to the taxi trade. I’m a taxi fan, especially in New York, a great old taxi town where sometimes you run into a growly old cabbie right out of the movies who says, “Where to, bud?” and all the way through town he denounces the rich and famous, but nostalgia is no competition against smart technology. Go to Garrison Keillor and Friends on Substack to read the rest of THE COLUMN >>>
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This week on "A Prairie Home Companion" December brings holiday cheer, and this week we revisit a classic show from 2004 that is sure to inspire some seasonal merriment. Garrison talks about Christmas and shares a few holiday tunes with the band. Sound effects wizards Tom Keith and Fred Newman are on hand, along with the rest of the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Howard Levy, Andy Stein, and the House of Hope Choir. Join us Saturday for some delightful tinsel! Listen via our Facebook page at 5 p.m. CT (or click the link below). Listen to the Show >>>
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More about this week’s featured guests
Howard Levy has taken the standard diatonic harmonica into territory where no one expected it could go, covering the entire musical scale; anyone who has ever picked up a little Hohner Marine Band can appreciate that. He grew up in Brooklyn and Queens and studied at the Manhattan School of Music and later at Northwestern University. He has lived in the Chicago area since 1972. The two-time Grammy winner has appeared on hundreds of CD’s and several movie soundtracks. “Merry Christmas” >>>
View available music >>>
Pat Donohue (guitar) — a native and resident of St. Paul, Minnesota — is a National Fingerpicking Guitar Champion and an innovative songwriter, with more than a dozen albums to his credit on the Red House and Bluesky labels. His songs have been recorded by Chet Atkins, Suzy Bogguss, Kenny Rogers, and others. For almost two decades, Pat performed on A Prairie Home Companion as a regular member of The Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band. ”Christmas at the Airport” >>>
View available music >>>
Garrison often does parody songs on the show. Here are the lyrics to “I Hope it Snows/A Child is Born” from this classic show:
Today has been a lousy day
Cold and windy, rainy, gray
I hope it snows
I hope it snows
It’s gray across the whole Midwest
We’re sad and lonely and depressed
I hope it snows
I hope it snows
The grass is full of piles of poop
The sky is gray like mushroom soup
I hope it snows
I hope it snows
I need some nutmeg and eggnog
And also chocolate for my dog
I hope it snows
I hope it snows
Our hearts are filled with misery
We cannot skate, we cannot ski
I hope it snows
I hope it snows
A brown Christmas is no fun
We need precipitation
I hope it snows
I hope it snows
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GARRISON KEILLOR and COMPANY Events The holidays — a great time to gather together with old friends. And with that in mind, Garrison and Company are hitting the road to sing a few holiday classics and share a few stories, limericks, and poetry. We hope you can come gather with us to celebrate the season!
View the tour schedule >>>
Shows this week include:
December 10 Bridge View Center in Ottumwa, Iowa. Tickets >>>
December 11 Rialto Square Theater in Joliet, Illinois Tickets >>>
December 12 Holland Civic Center in Holland, Michigan Tickets >>> |
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The Lake Wobegon Virus Softcover |
Now in paperback. Bestselling author and humorist Garrison Keillor returns to one of America’s most beloved mythical towns — a town beset by a contagion of alarming candor.
A mysterious virus has infiltrated the good people of Lake Wobegon, transmitted via unpasteurized cheese made by a Norwegian bachelor farmer, the effect of which is episodic loss of social inhibition. Mayor Alice, Father Wilmer, Pastor Liz, the Bunsens and Krebsbachs, formerly taciturn elders, burst into political rants, inappropriate confessions, and rhapsodic proclamations, while their teenagers watch in amazement. Meanwhile, a wealthy outsider is buying up farmland for a Keep America Truckin’ motorway and amusement park, estimated to draw 2.2 million visitors a year. Clint Bunsen and Elena the hometown epidemiologist to the rescue, with a Fourth of July Living Flag and sweet corn feast for a finale. |
Get the BOOK >>> |
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| A Prairie Home Companion RED SOCKS |
| Peter Rosen once produced a documentary about Garrison Keillor entitled 'The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes.' What the title failed to realize is that Garrison not only wore red shoes on-stage for the APHC shows, he also wore a red tie and red socks to match. Now, you can wear a pair of Prairie Home socks and keep your feet warm on those cool winter nights. Knit Jacquard socks are made with a woven imprint combining both the original logo and the microphone from the more recent logo. One size fits all. Get the socks >>> |
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| LAKE LIFE Shirt We are who we are and we know it! Now you can proclaim yourself a resident of “the little town that time forgot and decades could not improve,” knowing with a wink that you are “above average,” like the rest of us. 100% cotton shirt is available in sizes S–XXL. Get the Shirt >>> |
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