Daily Archives: December 18, 2025

Generation Gap

The New American Digest Posted on by

Somewhere in Izmir ...

I was passing by this store when I saw this woman in traditional dress (traditional as our blue jeans and T-shirts are traditional, not historically traditional) peering into this shop of definitely not-traditional women's clothing. Turkey may be nominally a Muslim country (as the US is nominally Christian) but the cities in the west are noticeably western in outlook. Not that I'd travel to the far more traditional and Muslim eastern part of the country and expect western styles and ideas.

Continue reading →

Christmas Carol Time #3

The New American Digest Posted on by

A selection of some of my favorite Christmas carols. A daily event through Christmas.

Today's selection: Blackmore's Night - "We Three Kings" - 1958

The song "We Three Kings" was written in 1857 by the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, PA for a Christmas pageant in NYC. It has been compared to music written in the Byzantium era and is the first popular carol written in America.

Ritchie Blackmore was a founding member of Deep Purple, Rainbow, and Blackmore's Night - a medieval folk group.

Not quite Deep Purple style, eh?

Candice Night first met Ritchie Blackmore at a 1989 Rainbow concert when she asked for an autograph. By 1991, they were a couple based on their interest in Renaissance-era music. "We Three Kings" was released in 2006 on their "Winter Carols" album.

Continue reading →