“Why do you keep blowing the trumpet, young man?
You'd better lie in a coffin, young man!”
On that life-affirming note, let me congratulate you (yes, it's been a tough year, and the next one will be even tougher better). Happy New Year! And now disco.
“«The Red Detachment of Women» (simplified Chinese: 红色娘子军) is a Chinese ballet which premiered in 1964. It is perhaps best known in the West as the ballet performed for U.S. President Richard Nixon on his visit to China in February 1972. Adapted from the earlier film of the same title under the personal direction of Zhou Enlai, which in turn adapted from the novel by Liang Xin, it depicts the liberation of a peasant girl in Hainan Island and her rise in the Chinese Communist Party”.
A girl flashes a victory sign as she poses near a helicopter that belongs to forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar Al-Assad after it crashed in Jabal al-Zawiya in the southern countryside of Idlib March 22, 2015. The Syrian military helicopter crashed in northwestern Syria on Sunday and at least four of its crew were captured by rebels, according to a monitoring group. (Photo by Abed Kontar/Reuters)
Spain's rider Fermin Aldeguer, foreground, leads as Spains rider Manuel Gonzalez Simon falls during Moto2 class race of the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, Malaysia Sunday, November 12, 2023. (Photo by Vincent Thian/AP Photo)
Hungarians witness the fallen statue of communist leader Josef Stalin in front of the National Theater in Budapest on October 24, 1956. Demonstrators revolting against communist rule in Hungary pulled the statue to the ground at Dozsa Gyorgy on Oct. 23 and hauled it by tractor to Blaha Lujza where it was later smashed to pieces by the people. (Photo by Arpad Hazafi/AP Photo)
Raka Soko, a traditional healer and Poro society member is deep in prayer while holding a broom and a bottle filled with spiritual wine that is purified to show gratitude to the gods before a ceremony in Waterloo on November 26, 2018. Standing across the field from him another member, Amos Nicol, holds a statue of the spiritual god Sama Yorbu which is used to communicate directly to other gods for permission to perform. (Photo by Lynn Rossi/AFP Photo)
A hogweed bonking beetle and yellow dung fly in a stalk standoff (the fly gave in), in Burley-in-Wharfedale, Yorkshire, England. (Photo by Rebecca Cole/Alamy Stock Photo)
A woman works in a rubber plantation in Yala province, southern Thailand, January 30, 2017. Thai rubber exporters say they have enough of the commodity in stockpiles to ensure only minimal disruption to scheduled shipments in the wake of deadly floods in key growing regions. (Photo by Surapan Boonthanom/Reuters)