07.26.05 - Life Update

My day started early this morning. I spent the entire weekend doing stuff other than school and managed to forget that I have a lot of things to do today. First off, I have my 3rd exam in Biology which I am pretty confident about despite having missed a couple of lectures. I have a paper and a lab due and neither have even been started. So, I’m gonna take the test at 8:30am and bail on the lecture my professor has scheduled after the test and work on those. The next class is at 2:30pm though I have a tutoring appointment at 1pm. I think that should give me enough time to do both. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I can’t believe how long it takes me to get through my blog roll anymore. Geez! Thank goodness you don’t all update everyday! Though those of you who update two and three times per day, you know who you are (Hoss), are making up for those of you who only update semi-daily.

I shopped for keyboards this weekend. Cher and I have been talking about teaching the kids piano and, with my newly found path into music, I need at least a piano anyway. I’m thinking about buying a full synthesizer though. I love techno music and it would be fun to make my own. Still, it’s a lot of cash and I’ve yet to make my pile though I keep paying my poor people tax – lottery tickets.

My new in-laws kick ass. How cool is that? That’s not to say they don’t have their quirks, just that I’m impressed. They seem to really like me and they treat me with respect. I’ve lucked out in that regard with both of my marriages. Married life is good. We just barely got the house cleaned up after the wedding in time for the kids to come home and trash it again. At least I’ll not want for things to do.

We’re trying to buy a house. Hopefully, we’ll manage to get that done this year. Divorce has wreaked havoc on both of our credit scores but, it’s really not that bad. In any case, we should be able to buy one by this time next year at the latest. We’re both really tired of apartment life.

Well that’s it, my fifteen minutes of blog time for the day is done. Must get back to the grind. Test in T minus thirty.

RCS

Life on Life's Terms

I have the feeling that this is going to be a meandering entry that may or may not take a while to come to any conclusion at all, so bear with me. Among the tenants I live by is that there are no coincidences. In my world, whatever powers that govern the universe (God if you like), have a plan. This is not to say that I can’t muck about and do my own thing even if it’s against plan. Rather, that life goes one whole of a lot smoother if I try to get with the plan. Typically, if I’m ignoring the hints the universe tosses me, the hints get more and more obnoxious until finally I get the proverbial 2X4 upside the head. On rare occasions, I defiantly get up after such a bashing and wait for a tree to fall on me. I have, on more than one occasion, ridden my motorcycle at speeds exceeding 100mph screaming at the top of my lungs at God, tears running down my cheeks (more from the wind than anything ;-)) until I surrender. My divorce was one of those occasions.

But I digress. It’s not usually quite so dramatic. The point is that I used to feel comfortable complaining when things aren’t going my way even if it’s totally unreasonable that they should do so. The problem is, I was five at the time. Now that I think of it, it was probably one of those not so rare occasions where my mother was “making” me practice piano or clean my room or something else I didn’t want to do. These days, throwing a fit doesn’t work so well. There’s just something inherently silly about a 33yr old man stomping around flailing his harms and throwing a fit – so I don’t… much…

Anyone who knows me and I suspect those of you who are coming to know me better, knows that I have struggled with what to do with my life for a long, long time. When I sit and get quiet, it becomes clear that it’s not really my life at all. More that I am a steward of certain gifts and that it is my job to share those gifts with the world around me. The problem for me is that I have always felt that my numerous gifts were not the ones I would have chosen. Talk about spitting in the face of your creator. So I’ve tried in vain to develop gifts that better fit my theory of what I should be. I’ve been obsessed with money for as long as I can remember. I planned to be a millionaire by the time I was thirty and was honestly disappointed when it didn’t happen and I was headed towards divorce and financial ruin.

The funny thing is that I’ve done all kinds of things to make a living over the years and none of them have made me particularly happy or wealthy. Most recently, I picked the scariest potential goal I ever dreamed up, being a doctor. It occurs to me now that it was the one path to wealth and status that seemed the most out of reach while I was growing up. More basically, I realize now that it wasn’t the right path and that I knew it as a child. The things I have always been good at are music, theater, and other arts like photography and writing. Not only that, but those are the things that bring me joy and satisfaction. I have been neglecting those gifts in the pursuit of money and prestige.

So let me tell you about the amusing coincidences I’ve observed recently. My boss, at my last job, was a man who had worked for twenty years in the music industry and sold out to become a restaurant owner and later manager because he thought he was smart enough to do it. He and I had some real give and take but I couldn’t get over the fact that he had given up his love of music for money. I also failed to notice that I was doing the same thing. Ultimately, his soulless devotion to the corporation convinced me I didn’t want his job now or ever, and I quit. But I still didn’t get the joke.

I enrolled at CU and briefly considered a double major in either music or theater and biology to “feed my soul”. I ultimately discarded the option because it was not financially viable. So I’m in Music Theory this week and one of the guys leans over and asks me what my major is. I tell him Biology – Pre-Med. He looks shocked and asks me why because I obviously love music so much and have so much talent. I answer in the same way I’ve answered the same question for months, “If I didn’t have six kids, I’d absolutely be in music or theater.” Well the next day, I’m in a tutoring session with some classmates from Biology and one of my classmates says she’s disappointed that people are dropping out of the Pre-Med program around her like flies and my tutor announces that he too no longer wants to be a doctor. I pop off about the financial implications of being a doctor and the same classmate tears into me about being focused on money. This precipitates an argument that last like two hours. In the end, I chuckle and concede her point. Money is not reason enough.

Class is over, and because we’re down to one car, I call Cher to pick me up and mosey on out into the ninety plus degree weather to sit under a tree and contemplate the events of the past couple of days. I had a payday candy bar (my favorite these days) and was accosted by a family of three squirrels who, were working together to steal my candy bar. One snuck up in front while another snuck around to the far side while another snuck up behind me. I remember calculating just how to grab a squirrel so as not to get bit or scratched. Anyway, this was all very amusing, I finished the candy bar and the cheeky squirrels didn’t even get a nibble. I’m sitting there in the shade thinking that I’m right outside the arts building and how cool it would be to be a music major when years of coincidences fall into my lap begging to be examined.

This time I don’t dodge. I don’t get dramatic. I just surrender. The only thing I’m concerned about is telling my lovely wife. She wasn’t at all surprised as it turns out and she supports me all the way. Sure, I’m nervous – who wouldn’t be? I don’t know exactly what in music I will do. At the moment I’m thinking of a double major performance (Jazz Guitar) and Recording maybe to hedge my bet a bit. Perhaps I will teach. Perhaps teach and perform and record. Who knows? In any case, I’m ready to sit back and enjoy the ride. Money isn’t everything. In fact, it’s not even most of it. Life is about the relationships you build with the people in your life. It’s about giving back what you have been freely given. It’s about developing and sharing your gifts with the world. It’s about honoring every ounce of who and what you are. It's about letting your light shine.

RCS

07.24.05 - The Honeymoon Part Duex

I sit here typing this entry one week and two days after Cher and I’s wedding. The kids are due back in the next couple of days. It’s been nice having Cher to myself but I miss them. The honeymoon was a blast. It was totally from the hip - we got it in our heads that we wanted to do something or see something and we did. On the first night, we had dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse. If you have a Morton’s near you, I can’t recommend them strongly enough. We walked in our “grungies” and were treated as respectfully as we would have been had we been dressed to the nines – no snobby elitism. The food was incredible and so was the price. $150 was more than Cher and I are used to paying for a single meal but I guarantee we’ll do it again. Afterwards, we stayed at a Courtyard by Marriot hotel. Courtyards are certainly not the fanciest but, of the business class hotels, one of my favorites. You get a big, reasonably appointed room and breakfast all for $50-60, which is not bad and a hell of an improvement over Motel 6.

We had a picture of us blown up to poster size (yikes!) and had everyone that attended the wedding sign it using a paint marker. The plan was to frame it and hang it as a momento. We dropped it off before we went on our honeymoon because I knew, if we didn't, it wouldn't get done. Anyway, I've apparently, not had anything framed in a long time. I was shocked! $400!!! My kids better hang this over an altar in a family shrine or something after we're gone. In all honesty though, I'm certain it will look great.

The next day we stopped by home to get some things and then headed out the Renaissance festival in Larkspur, CO. It’s a big, medieval shopping fest. We walked all day and saw some great stuff that we may buy when we have some cash. Parking was wacky. We parked like a mile from the front gates. I just hate when I’m walking in 95 degree heat through a parking lot and see 15-20 parking places right by the gate that the damn parking nazis won’t let you have access to. I suppose, if I were a rack and stacker, I’d exercise whatever power I could as well. The day was amusing, if a bit dirty. We got home and found that we had dirt from head to toe. We got in the shower (together) and got to playing around. I was trying to push Cher up against the cold ceramic tiles and she stepped UP ON THE BACK EDGE of the tub. Not deterred, a put my right foot back and shoved hard – until I realized that I’d stepped on the drain plug with the arch of my foot. OMG did that hurt. She was very apologetic but hell, I earned it – I will definitely think twice before trying that again.

The next day we went to the Denver Botanical Gardens. It’s a lovely place. There is just about every style of garden you can think of from traditional English to Japanese. There are water gardens and loosely organized mountain gardens. We took tons of pictures that I’ll be sending to the PhotoBlog as I get time. It turns out that Cher likes to take pictures as much as I do so there was some contention for the camera – RCS is not used to sharing his toys. We’ll have to see about getting her her own camera so we can go out together and shoot with less friction. I suppose I could just grow up and share with Cher… Nah! ;-)

The next day we went to Bishop’s Castle. The pictures I posted don’t really do this monstrosity justice. It’s built in the hodgepodge willy-nilly style. You know, the I’m gonna work here today and there tomorrow philosophy - Yah, that looks about right... Mr. Bishop has been in a cold war with the State of Colorado since he started this project approximately 30 years ago. He has no interest in building codes save with regards to fighting them. As such, he will never be allowed to use the castle as a residence. In order to keep the structure, he had to turn it into a tourist attraction. Apparently that gets him around some of the building code issues. There are numerous, well articulated signs strewn all over the property proclaiming, for all to see, Jim Bishop’s right to do what he is doing. He is a constitutionalist of a sort.

As I walked around, I heard many people say that Mr. Bishop is crazy. I’ve heard this man on the radio and I stood and listened to him talk and I don’t entirely agree. In an era where Americans are lining up to give up our rights, one man is digging in and refusing based on, of all things, the United States Constitution. Funny isn’t it how someone diametrically opposed to the norm is labeled a crazy and discarded. I support Mr. Bishop’s right to build his castle in the way he sees fit – I just hope it doesn’t fall on anybody.

We also saw Fantastic 4 and Bewitched and I’ll get reviews up for those as soon as possible.

So now we’re back in the swing of things, Cher’s working, I’m in school, and the kids will be back soon. Gotta love it!

RCS

07.17.05 Honeymoon

Cher and I are enjoying our honeymoon. Yesterday we went to the Renaissance Festival and looked at all of the nifty goodies. Today we're going out to breakfast and to the Denver Botanical Gardens. I'll fill in the details when I get a chance. For now, there are pictures from the wedding on the photoblog and some new audio relating to the wedding on the audioblog. I'll write more when things slow down a bit.

RCS

AudioBlogger is back online!

After 2 days of being down, AudioBlogger is back - sort of. As of 5:40pm MST, you could hear posts and access their website but NOT post new material. I still have no idea why.

***UPDATE***
Just checked again and it's down again at 12:45pm MST 07/14/05, go figure.

RCS

A Wing Dinger of a Day

It’s starting off to be wing-dinger of a day! Cher hurt her back at work last night trying to pick up a 280lb man off the floor. She should be ok but sore for a while. I woke to find that AudioBlogger was once again misbehaving. It’s actually been functional for about 2 hours in the past 2 days as far as I can tell. So I shot them one of those WTF! emails. If they’re unresponsive or obnoxious in their reply I’ll make certain I share it with all of you. Nice concept if it only worked reliably.

Anyway, I’m sitting in my vehicle sweating in the sun as I type this. For some unknown reason, it picked today to break down. I’m sitting here waiting for a tow truck. Yay! It’s kind of sad really. This was the vehicle Cher and I were going to take on our honeymoon because it’s big enough to throw a mattress in the back and it has air conditioning. I suppose we still may but that’s dicey in that we get paid again on Friday which also happens to be the day we’re getting married. Ah well we’ll just have to wait and see how things work out.

I was on my way to General Biology I this morning before my trusty steed went kaput. I really thought I needed to hear that lecture. Apparently the universe has other plans. I’m curious to see what happens. The professor has been taking his sweet time grading the last test. I had hoped to see it graded and ready for my perusal this morning. Hopefully he graded the tests and posted the results online like he usually does. There’s something incredibly sadistic about giving sixty people a test and then making them wait a week to find out how they did. Oh well, I’m trying to just try to get out the way and roll with it. One can never tell with any certainty what any day will bring after all.

I suppose I will take advantage of the time off from school and take the kids to the library. They're working on a reading project of some kind and need to get their time in this week. It was looking like that wasn’t going to be possible with my school schedule, the wedding and Cher’s work schedule but presto, opportunity knocks. Taking six kids to the library is an adventure all it’s own.

My laptop has this annoying, if somewhat practical power saving feature. It dims the display when it is unplugged. This would seem a great idea on the surface. In practice, it makes it almost impossible to see the screen if you happen to be outside – as I am now. Thankfully, my typing is good enough that I don’t need to look at the screen or the keyboard. It would, however, be nice if I could read over what I’ve written for corrections etc… Ah well, these are luxury problems. There are people all over the world and in the good ole US of A who don’t have cars, who aren’t getting married, who couldn't afford to own a laptop or a computer of any kind. There are people who wouldn’t be able to tell you what a blog is or what it’s for. “Blog? That sounds painful!” Rob says, “Aye, sometimes it is indeed.”

RCS

*** NEW *** RCS - Blogs

Hey everybody! I decided to create a couple of new blogs to augment this site. You can find them at:

RCS - AudioBlog
RCS - PhotoBlog

You'll also see links to them on the right below my profile. Let me know what you think.

RCS

07.09.05 - Life update and Review of WOTW

Life continues. With less than a week to go before the big day, Cher and I a working hard to iron out the last minute details. The good news is that everything up to the wedding day is pretty much taken care of thanks to our dear friends Paul and Jen. We’ll be cementing our wedding vows and music this weekend and printing the programs early in the week. It looks like about 45 people, including kids, will be attending so it’ll be bigger than the 20-25 we talked about originally but not too huge. We’ll also be getting the house ship-shape and finishing the cake for the wedding this week.

It’s amusing and interesting to see who does and who does not elect to attend weddings. We sent out about 60 invites and assumed roughly 30 families would actually attend. In the end it was more like 20. Apparently, second (and third) weddings are less interesting than first weddings – who knew. I was once again reminded of the political ramifications of inviting some people while excluding others – something I never would have dreamed of for my first wedding. In the end, I really didn’t do much of that this time around either. If we didn’t want to see them or if there was no possibility they would attend, we didn’t invite them – simple enough. Of course that means that some people I wouldn’t mind seeing got left out so that those I definitely didn’t want to see would be left out of the loop. Family is so very complicated some times…

My music theory class started on July 6th and I am now officially buried in course work. Thankfully, general biology is not giving me the fits that it was in the beginning. I think I can pull out a “B” which is good enough. I should end up with an “A” in the lab and all three sections of the theory class. Technically that should leave me with 4 “A”s and a “B” which is good, all things considered. The theory class is a lot of fun and, given my background, a breeze. I’m sure it will be ever so much more entertaining than some boring “Music Appreciation” class. One disturbing thing is that I know more, at this point, than 95% of the music majors in the same class – I have a gift that I’m not using very much and that feels somehow wrong.

As such, I started teaching the kids music theory today. Some of them took to it better than others and I didn’t push it. We spent an hour going over the basics – the C Major scale, time signatures, measure, note, staff, clef, and rest notation. I think I’ll review that next time and then start on intervals and after that, move into modes. I’ll probably teach the intervals based on songs they know using songs like “My Bonnie” to illustrate the Major 6th and so on. After that we’ll work out the other Major scales and go from there. Hopefully, I can get a piano of some kind by that point so they can begin to hear how it plays out. For the time being, I’m using the guitar as I have several of them handy.

 

War of the Worlds

We went out with friends to see this film on Wednesday night and I sort of wish I hadn’t. What I mean is that the action was incredible and the scenes with the alien craft and LGMs were flawless. To bad the plot and the acting left something to be desired. Tell ‘em you heard it from me first, Tom Cruise is done folks. His performance in this movie was simply odd. In fairness, I was never really able to forget the goofy stuff he’s been pulling lately and it colored my perception of the film. Add to that a shallow plot, under developed characters, and a ceaselessly uncomfortable storyline and you begin to understand my confusion. It had every promise of being great and then POOF! – straight into the toilet.

RCS

Ideology, Zealotry, and Philosophy

Once again, in replying to another blog, Dave's Window, I found that I had yet another cogent string of thoughts that might make a decent blog entry. Enjoy!

"Zealotry is frightening on a number of levels. Pehaps the most disturbing for me personally is the level of trust and blind faith that these people have in an ideology which is so different from my own.

My own ideology is also somewhat blind and even I trust it most days but my commitment to it is not so absolute as to allow me the mental space to assume and even assert that I am absolutely right and you are absolutely wrong. Absolutes in any form beg to be challenged.

It's my opinion that we are engaged in a war of ideologies and that it is unlikely such war will end well - someone must always be right and someone always wrong. The struggle between absolutes is one of brute force - the unstoppable force meets the unmovable object. In such a conflict, the stronger and/or most capable always wins. We must, as a people, continue to refine the art of compromise and flexibility because even the mighty oak will shatter under a strong wind.

I think flexibility is a problem for us (humans) because we are unwilling to be wrong or accept that there might be multiple workable answers to a single problem favoring instead our own answer. I think the "War on Terror" can be won but I think the costs and consequences will extend well into the lives of my great-grandchildren and that winning will look nothing like what either side would envision.

I think these conflicts to be an expression of the growing pains of our civilization. It's an old story. Hopefully we will eventually learn that killing people is not an effective way to convince them, or ourselves, that we are right."

When neither side is even a little wrong, neither side is quite right.

I often pause to wonder how, why, and when it was that I came to believe in what I believe about any given thing. I sometimes then pause to look around me to figure out what other people think about the same thing and recognize that they too are looking for an answer and that that answer will likely spring from an equally complex font of experience and belief. As such, can any of us alone really be "right"? I submit that each of us contributes to a greater whole - that of the human civilization. I for one think that this obligates me to consider what I contribute - shit in = shit out.

RCS

Numerology , Astrology, Events - o - RCS

Well folks this is more miscillaneous crap enjoy...

Numerology info from PaulSadowski.com

Robert Christian Seifert

There are 22 letters in your name.
Those 22 letters total to 117
There are 8 vowels and 14 consonants in your name.

Your number is: 9

The characteristics of #9 are: Humanitarian, giving nature, selflessness, obligations, creative expression.

The expression or destiny for #9:
The expression that you exhibit is represented bythe number 9. Your talents center in humanistic interests and approaches. You like to help others as you were intended to be the 'big brother or big sister' type. You operate best when you follow your feelings and sense of compassion, and allow yourself to be sensitive to the needs of others. You work well with people, and have the potential to inspire. This suggests that you could successfully teach or counsel. Creative ability, imagination and artistic talent (often latent) of the highest order are present in this expression. It's possible that you're not using or developing all of these capabilities at this time. Some of your talents may have been used at an earlier time in your life, and some may still be latent. Be aware of your capabilities, so that you can make use of them at appropriate times.

If you are able to achieve the potential of your natural expression in this life, you are capable of much human understanding and have a lot to give to others. Your personal ambitions are likely to be maintained in a very positive perspective, never losing sight of an interest in people, and a sympathetic, tolerant, broad-minded and compassionate point of view. You are quite idealistic, and disappointed at the lack of perfection in the world. You have a strong awareness of your own feeling as well as those of others. Friendships, affection, and love are extremely important.

Undeveloped or ignored, the negative side of the 9 expression can be very selfish and self-centered. If you do not actively involve yourself with work that benefits others, you may tend to express just the opposite characteristics. It is your role to be very involved with other people and their needs, but it may be difficult for you achieve this role. Aloofness, lack of involvement, and a lack of sensitivity mark the low road of this expression.

Your Soul Urge number is: 7

A Soul Urge number of 7 means:
With a number 7 Soul Urge you are very fond of reading, and retreating to periods of being alone and away from the disruptions of the outer world. You like to dream and develop you idealistic understandings, to study and analyze, to gain knowledge and wisdom. You may be too laid back and withdrawn to really succeed in the business world, and you will be much more comfortable in circumstances that are tolerant of your reserve, your analytical approach, and your desire to use your mind rather than your physical being.

You are very timid around people that you don't know very well, so much so at times that casual conversation and social situations can be strained. You tend to repress your emotions to the extend that some people have a good bit of difficult understanding you. You tend to be very selective with friends and you don't easily adapt to new environments or to new people very quickly.

The negative traits of the 7 include becoming too much the introvert and isolated from others.

Your Inner Dream number is: 5

An Inner Dream number of 5 means:
You dream of being totally free and unrestrained by responsibility. You see yourself conversing and mingling with the natives in many nations, living for adventure and life experiences. You imagine what you might accomplished.

And also Birthdate information from PaulSadowski.com

You entered: 12/15/1971

You were born on a Wednesday
under the astrological sign Sagittarius.
Your Life path number is 9.

The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2441300.5.
The golden number for 1971 is 15.
The epact number for 1971 is 3.
The year 1971 was not a leap year.

As of 7/2/2005 11:48:42 AM CDT
You are 33 years old.
You are 403 months old.
You are 1,750 weeks old.
You are 12,253 days old.
You are 294,083 hours old.
You are 17,645,028 minutes old.
You are 1,058,701,722 seconds old.

There are 166 days till your next birthday
on which your cake will have 34 candles on it.

Those 34 candles produce 34 BTU's,
or 8,568 calories of heat (that's only 8.5680 food Calories!) .
You can boil 3.89 US ounces of water with that many candles.

Your birthstone is Blue Zircon
The Mystical properties of Blue Zircon

Zircon helps one be more at peace with oneself.

Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewlers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)

Blue Topaz, Ruby, Lapis Lazuli

Your birth tree is

Fig Tree, the Sensibility

Very strong, a bit self-willed, independent, does not allow contradiction or arguments, loves life, its family, children and animals, a bit of a butterfly, good sense of humour, likes idleness and laziness, of practical talent and intelligence.

There are 176 days till Christmas 2005!

The moon's phase on the day you were
born was waning crescent.

On Wednesday, December 15, 1971

Moon's age (days): 27
Distance (Earth radii): 62.73
Percent Illumination 4.40%
Ecliptic latitude (degrees): -4.75
Ecliptic longitude (degrees): 235.63

Events of December 1971

From BrainyHistory

December 1 "2 Gentlemen of Verona" opens at St. James Theater New York City for 613 performances
December 1 Cubs release Ernie Banks and sign him as a coach
December 1 Galt MacDermot/John Guare's "2 gentlemen of Verona," premieres in New York City
December 1 John and Yoko release "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in US
December 1 People's Republic of South Yemen renames itself People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
December 2 Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujeira, Sharjah and Umm ak Qiwain form United Arab Emirates
December 2 Soviet Mars 3 is 1st to soft land on Mars
December 2 United Arab Emirates, (Trucial States) declares independence from UK
December 2 Zayid bin Sultan Al Nuhayyan of Abu Dhabi becomes President of UAE
December 3 Miss Teenage America Pageant
December 3 President Nixon commutes Jimmy Hoffa's jail term
December 5 KCBJ (now KMIZ) TV channel 17 in Columbia, MO (ABC) 1st broadcast
December 6 Lewis Franklin Powell confirmed as Supreme Court justice
December 7 "Wild and Wonderful" opens/closes at Lyceum Theater New York City
December 7 Wings release their 1st album "Wild Life"
December 9 Lewis F Powell, Jr. appointed to Supreme Court
December 10 West German union chancellor W Burns receives Nobel prize of peace
December 10 William H Rehnquist confirmed as Supreme Court justice
December 13 John Sinclair (sentence: 10 yrs, sold 2 marijuana joints) is freed
December 14 Golden Gate Bridge lights out all night due to power failure
December 14 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
December 15 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk U.S.S.R.
December 16 Bangladesh (East Pakistan) declares independence from Pakistan
December 16 Don McLean's 8+ minute version of "American Pie" released
December 16 India's army occupies Dacca, West Pakistani troops surrenders
December 17 Cease fire between India and Pakistan in Kashmir
December 17 "Diamonds are Forever" premieres in US
December 17 Radio Bangladesh begins transmitting
December 18 1st Candlelight Processional
December 18 CBS radio cancels Saturday morning band concerts
December 18 People United To Save Humanity (PUSH) forms by Jesse Jackson in Chic
December 19 CBS airs "Homecoming A Christmas Story," (introducing the Waltons)
December 19 "Inner City" opens at Barrymore Theater New York City for 97 performances
December 19 NASA launches Intelsat 4 F-3 for COMSAT Corp
December 19 Stanley Kubrick's X-rated "A Clockwork Orange" premieres
December 20 Pakistan president Yahya Khan resigns
December 21 UN Security Council chooses Kurt Waldheim as 4th secretary General
December 22 KUAC TV channel 9 in Fairbanks/College, AK (PBS) begins broadcasting
December 22 U.S.S.R. performs underground nuclear test
December 22 UN General Assembly ratifies Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General
December 24 Peruvian Airlines Electra crashes at headwaters of Amazon, killing all except Juliane Margaret Koepcke found 10 days later
December 25 Longest NFL game (82m40s) as Dolphins beat Chiefs 27-24
December 25 Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) form Jesse Jackson
December 25 Worst hotel fire in history kills 163 at Taeyokale Hotel in Seoul
December 28 Hasj falls from now on under(neath) the Opiumwet
December 30 Long Island NHL franchise purchased (New York Islanders)
December 30 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk U.S.S.R.
December 31 KAID TV channel 4 in Boise, ID (PBS) begins broadcasting
December 31 Lieutenant General Robert E Cushman, Jr, USMC, ends term as deputy director of CIA