At least one good thing to say about this year is it's given us plenty of great anniversaries easy to celebrate by streaming - including the 100th anniversary of the debut of the British comic series Rupert Bear.

Fittingly enough, this year I've been frequently binging on the old Rupert cartoon series on Youtube. It's been exactly the escape I've been craving from everything going on this year - very innocent, very whimsical, very British (or at least very Canadian). Most incredible of all, there's a FRIENDLY policeman character.

And then there's Paul McCartney's song 'We All Stand Together' from the short Rupert cartoon from 1984, Paul being a fan himself. It's not exactly a Holiday song, but it has all the feel of one, and definitely the message. It's also been a balm this year. It's what I keep hoping to become more true, someday, in spite of all the evidence against that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7urHWasul24