Mike O'Connell

Up and down the east coast yesterday and today we’re experiencing some very un-Decemberlike temperatures, no doubt pleasing many and positively alarming others. Politics aside and objectively speaking, I saw yesterday’s weather as neither good nor bad, but merely a manifestation of a bigger issue that has been fomenting for some time.

I’ve noticed that over the last 10 years or so Decembers have become warmer, while Februarys and Marches have become colder and more snow-laden. It’s gotten to the point that I expect more snowfall in March than I do in December, regardless of what the calendar says or how I used to think of those months as a kid.

There’s a simple explanation and it has nothing to do with handwringing over global warming or carbon emissions or hybrid cars or anything like that.

We’ve simply screwed up the calendar.

Think about it. Let’s say we were off the mark with the whole 365 days thing. Let’s say the number of days in an actual year is more like 367 or 368. (Perhaps we’ve been unnecessarily shorting February all these years.) If we cut two or three days from every year, in time we’d be days and weeks off the mark from what the actual date was. Such a thing would not be without precedent: let us not forget the great calendar change of 1752.

I think it’s probably closer to the middle of October right now than the middle of December. By the time the real December rolls around we’ll be calling it February. So when those mid-March snows come along we really shouldn’t be that surprised. After all, it’s really only January. Back when I was a kid it was cold in January and it still should be now.

I guess the question remains how did we get off track. Personally I think it has something to do with Y2K. That seems to be about when winter started showing up later and lingering a little longer. We never did find out what the real Y2K bugaboo was, so this was probably it. Damn that Y2K messing up my St. Patrick’s Day 14 years later. Who knows what’s next? NCAA Tournament games cancelled due to snow? Caddies carrying shovels around the greens at Augusta? Horses dashing through the snow at Churchill Downs?

Only misplaced time will tell.

It was 50 years ago this evening that audiences were first treated to an instant classic: A Charlie Brown Christmas. No TV special is more synonymous with any holiday than the Peanuts gang and its jazzy romp through the ups and downs of the Christmas season.

I enjoyed A Charlie Brown Christmas when I was a kid, I enjoyed it as a young adult, and I enjoy it now watching with a kid of my own. That’s the beauty of Peanuts, actually: it works for kids and grownups alike. Ditto Christmas, ditto joy and sadness, ditto the music of Vince Guaraldi. Ever think about that one? Why does Vince Guaraldi’s music sound so perfect on the early Charlie Brown specials? As other reviewers have noted, it does exactly what Peanuts does: shows a childlike playfulness and an adult sophistication at the same time. (Damn I wish I’d come up with that!)

Charlie Brown, you look as good in 2015 as ever.

And as your friends tell you every year…

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!!!

You’ve got to hand it to the NFL. Not only do they put out a great product, they keep coming up with new bizarre ways to end games. (Stoppage-time Hail Mary: clever.) Proof again that the new national pastime is football…

on TV.

Last week “our senator” Tom Libous was sentenced by a U.S. District Judge to six months of house arrest, two years probation, and a $50,000 fine for, among other things, lying to the FBI about the circumstances of his son’s employment at a downstate law firm. This was the you’ll-have-to-put-on-a-new-wing-to-handle-all-the-business-I-can-steer-your-way law firm for which his son no longer works. Actually, I’m not sure whether his son still works there. Kind of hard to work from prison.

Speaking of prison… that’s the only thing that disappoints me from the Libous verdict: no jail time. (Frowny face emoji.) Apparently among Libous’s other problems is that he does have cancer and the judge in the case took some leniency as a result. Still, though, pretty shameful way to walk away.

Libous had held his seat in the New York State Senate since 1989 before stepping down in July following his indictment. Amazingly everyone in my old hometown still loves the guy, though I see him now as the Barry Bonds of Binghamton. Fans are still fans. But those who have their heads on this side of the sand know the guy’s a cheater and therefore give him no respect. I knew 15 years ago and am glad others are starting to come around.

I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again in his obituary: Tom Libous was a blight on the Southern Tier for 30 years and did irreparable harm to the community he professed to care so much about. His fall from grace is no stain on his legacy: it is a perfect illustration of a career of malfeasance.

’Twas the day before Thanksgiving and I was tempted to make my usual too-cool-for-this post about not going out on the stupidest night of the year. So first let me say: not going out on the stupidest night of the year.

But let me add this.

Here’s something for those of you not headed out, those of you with the Spotify, as referenced on Monday.

Instead of bemoaning the fact that Adele, Taylor Swift, etc. have decided not to have their music on “free” streaming services, check out a young man who has: the ageless and incomparable Tony Bennett.

Yup, Tony’s got a new album out and it’s another gem. Called The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, it features Bill Charlap and his trio and more than a dozen songs composed by the great Jerome Kern. You’ve heard all these songs before (some, in fact, by Mr. Bennett previously), but somehow Tony Bennett at 89 puts a fresh stamp on a song like no other jazz singer today. No other singer period.

So do yourself a favor, shut yourself in the next three days and hear some music, watch a parade, watch some football…

And maybe see your friends and family if you have time.