World AIDS Day 2025

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The United States is not commemorating World AIDS Day this year as it has done for decades in the past. The commemoration has been marked every December 1 since 1988. The day is meant to raise awareness of efforts to fight the deadly disease and remember those died from it. Globally, about 39.9 million people are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, including about 1.2 million people in the United States. In the US, about 13% of people who have HIV don’t know it — one driver of the virus’ continued spread. Observance of the day was started by the World Health Organization, from which the Trump administration withdrew this year. However, it has expanded beyond WHO to organizations and communities around the world.                 

 

The Trump administration has reportedly barred agencies from commemorating or participating in the event as well.          

       

        

        

Viewfinder link:        

        

World AIDS Day         

        

Net links:        

         

ABC News ~ AIDS Memorial Quilts at Santa Rosa's Kaiser Permanente       

CNN ~ US government no longer commemorating World AIDS Day  

PBS News Hour ~ Funding cuts threaten HIV-prevention efforts        

WHO ~ Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response    

        

YouTube links:        

        

CBS News ~ U.S. not recognizing World AIDS Day this year       

PBS News Hour ~ Trump declines to mark World AIDS Day      

United Nations ~ World AIDS Day 2025 

        

         

        

       

Styrous® ~ Monday, December 1, 2025       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Events 
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East Bay Open Studios & the JABC

As part of the East Bay Open Studios, The Jingletown Arts & Business Community (JABC) is participating, some of the studios represented are . . .  

 

 

20th Annual Jingletown Winter Art Walk from 11 AM to 5 PM on two weekends: 

 

Saturday, December 6th, Sunday, December 7th 

and 

Saturday, December 13th, Sunday, December 14 

Participating Studios 

      

Viewfinder link:       

         

Gray Loft Gallery                

     

Net link:        

         

Gray Loft Gallery                              

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Sunday, November 30, 2025            
        

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Art/Exhibitions
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Gray Loft Gallery ~ Jingletown Winter Art Walk 2025

photo & design by Jan Watten

In conjunction with the East Bay Open Studios, The Gray Loft Gallery will hold it's 20th Annual Jingletown Winter Art Walk from 11 AM to 5 PM on two weekends:        

 

Saturday, December 6th, Sunday, December 7th 

and 

Saturday, December 13th, Sunday, December 14 

Participating Artists 

2889 Ford Street 

third floor 

Oakland CA 94601 

      

Viewfinder links:       

         

Gray Loft Gallery          

Dorie Meister        

Susan Tuttle         

Jan Watten                 

     

Net links:        

         

Gray Loft Gallery             

Dorie Meister            

Jan Watten                         

        
        
        
        
        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Sunday, November 30, 2025            
        

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Art/Exhibitions
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Godzilla on the Walk of Fame

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On the 29th of November, 2004, Godzilla received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Godzilla is a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in the Ishiro Honda 1954 film, Godzilla.     

 

 

Godzilla - Hollywood Walk of Fame star
 

 

Since I was a kid, I've always been in love with dinosaurs, so, Godzilla fits right into my boyhood dreams (link below).          

 

With the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a monster created by nuclear explosions and a metaphor for nuclear weapons in general.       

Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games, novels, comic books, television series, and an American remake. The name of the monster is a combination of two Japanese words: in one planning stage, Godzilla was described as “a cross between a gorilla and a whale”, alluding to his size, power and aquatic origin.         

 

In February of 1978, Blue Öyster Cult released their hard rock single, Godzilla, on Columbia Records. The lyrics are a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the popular movie monster of the same name. The single release had a picture sleeve featuring a promotional still from the movie Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.     

 

 

Godzilla - 45 RPM 
 

 

Cash Box called Godzilla "a clever rocker tale of Godzilla...with a strong, catchy hook, excellent guitar and special effects."    

 

In response to the song's absence from the 1998 Godzilla soundtrack, Cult members Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma created their own parody called NoZilla, which was only released to radio stations.   

         

        

        

        

        

        

        

         

        

        

         

        

        

Viewfinder links:        

        

A boy & his dinosaurs ~ memories of a spunky youth @ 80        

Godzilla lyrics         

Godzilla (Haruo Nakajima)         

        

        

        

         

Net links:        

        

        

         

        

        

        

Youtube links:        

        

Blue Oyster Cult ~            

                 Godzilla        

                 NoZilla                 

Godzilla links                

        

                 

         

        

        

        

        

         

        

         

Styrous® ~ Saturday, November 29, 2025        

      

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Events
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Blue Oyster Cult ~ Godzilla lyrics

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[Verse: Buck Dharma & Eric Bloom]
With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound
He pulls the spitting high-tension wires down
Helpless people on subway trains
Scream bug-eyed as he looks in on them
He picks up a bus and he throws it back down
As he wades through the buildings toward the center of town

[Chorus: Buck Dharma & Eric Bloom]
Oh no, they say he's got to go
Go go Godzilla, yeah
Oh no, there goes Tokyo
Go go Godzilla, yeah

[Guitar Solo]

[Chorus: Buck Dharma & Eric Bloom]
Oh no, they say he's got to go
Go go Godzilla, yeah
Oh no, there goes Tokyo
Go go Godzilla, yeah

[Guitar Solo]

[Bridge]
Godzilla (Zilla, zilla)
Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla
Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla
Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla
Godzilla, Godzilla
臨時ニュースを申し上げます (Godzilla, Godzilla)
臨時ニュースを申し上げます (Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla)
ゴジラが銀座方面に向かっています (Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla)
大至急避難してください大至急避難してください (Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla)
(Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla, Godzilla)

[Chorus: Buck Dharma & Eric Bloom]
Oh no, they say he's got to go
Go go Godzilla, yeah
Oh no, there goes Tokyo
Go go Godzilla, yeah

[Outro: Buck Dharma & Eric Bloom]
History shows again and again
How nature points out the folly of man
Godzilla
History shows again and again
How nature points out the folly of man
Godzilla
History shows again and again
How nature points out the folly of man
Godzilla
History shows again and again
How nature points out the folly of man
Godzilla

 

 

Viewfinder link:     

Godzilla on the Walk of Fame     

     

     

 

 

     

    

Styrous® ~ Saturday November 29, 2025    

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Song lyrics
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The Mills Brothers articles/mentions

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mentions:     

The Singing Detective       

     

     

     

     

     

     

The Mills Brothers - 1944    

photographer unknown     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

 

 

 

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Music People

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Grand Ole Opry @ 100

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Today marks the One Hundredth birthday of country music's most revered symbol, called The Carnegie Hall of the South.        

 

The original building called the Ryman Auditorium was built in 1885 and housed the Union Gospel Tabernacle from 1892 to 1904.                 

 

The show was free to attend in the early days. In 1939, they started charging a 25¢ per ticket price and tickets now start at $46 each.     

  

The Ryman Auditorium is the most iconic of the six venues; Elvis Presley sang Blue Moon of Kentucky by bluegrass musician Bill Monroe there in 1954. Seven US presidents have visited the Grand Ole Opry; In 1974, Richard Nixon played piano at the opening of the current location and sang Happy Birthday to his wife Pat Nixon.       

       

It takes 15.8 million feet of audio, video and lighting cable to produce the show today on WSM and SiriusXM radio and internet video streaming.                

     

Aside from all the cut-'n-dry technical stuff BUT because of the historical facts involved, to attend the evetnt has to be an outrageous adventure to remember for a lifetime!      

     

Burning Man? Woodstock? Monterey Jazz Festival? I bet one can go WAY back to other eras to find other, to use an old sixties word, Happenings, in  our "post-war" (did it ever stop?) history.           

      

     

      

Viewfinder links:       

         

Burning Man        

Bill Monroe        

Richard Nixon        

Elvis Presley        

Woodstock        

      
Net link:       

        

Simpli - Top 5 Reasons to Watch the Grand Ole Opry Live         

     
YouTube link:       

         

Patsy Cline ~ Blue Moon of Kentucky     

Bill Monroe ~    

               Blue Moon of Kentucky (1946)

               Blue Moon of Kentucky (live)             

Elvis Presley ~ Blue Moon of Kentucky        

        

        

        
        

        

        

        

        

         
Styrous® ~ Friday, November 28, 2025         
        

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Music Notes

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Bill Monroe articles/mentions

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mentions:     

Grand Ole Opry @ 100       

     

     

     

     

     

     

Bill Monroe - 1952       

promotional photo     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

 

 

 

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Music People

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Fifteen Turkeys Ago

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As usual, every Thanksgiving I consider the many things I have to be thankful about in my our lives. This year was no exception.        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photo by Barbara Hodovan                                                                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 photo by Barbara Hodovan

 

 

As I was processing this bounty, I had a realization; I can hardly believe it's been fifteen years since I had one of my favorite Thanksgiving experiences in Barcelona (link below).       

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

Viewfinder link:                     

Five Turkeys Ago                

           

                

         

        

       

Styrous® ~ Friday, November 21, 2025       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Events  

Barcelona, España Journals 
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The wild, whacky & wonderful art of Terry Gilliam

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A few days ago was the birthday, November 22, 1940, of American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage animator, and actor Terry Gilliam who gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe.    

 

Gilliam was also an accomplished collage artist who animated some of his art for the Monty Python Flying Circus television series. I was very much into the series when I lived in Crescent Beach, a tiny village in British Columbia, in 1973 (link below).          

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Monty Python troupe consisted of John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman.  

 

Together they collaborated on the sketch series Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974) and the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, also co-directed), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). In 1988, they received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. In 2009, Gilliam received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.      

     
      

The Art of Terry Gilliam 

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

   
      

Viewfinder links:       

        
Crescent Beach & French Fries       

Terry Gilliam        

                

                          

     

Net links:       

                 

        

         
YouTube links:                
        
         

        
        
        
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, November 26, 2025         
        

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Art/Exhibitions 

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