SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-“Jingle Bells” (1993).
On December 2, Pearl Jam announced that their fan club holiday singles will be released to streaming services. Their first holiday single was released back in 1991. It was “Let Me Sleep (Christmas Time).” They are rolling out the songs one at a time under the banner 12 Days of Pearl Jam.
These releases are coming out as a daily surprise.
This is a rocking instrumental version of “Jingle Bells.”
There’s not too much more to say about it. It starts out as a rocking guitar track then one of the guitars plays the main “Jingle Bells” riff. It’s followed by a wicked little solo. Then repeat. There’s a couple more solos and then when it gets to a little after 2 minutes there’s I believe solos from two guitarists, or they’ve overdubbed Mike. The rest of the band kind of falls away as the soloing continues. And the last few seconds slowly fade out.
There’s nothing especially Pearl Jam about it, but it’s a nice rocking addition to any Christmas playlist. Lucy Van Pelt would approve.
[READ: December 6, 2019] “Hazel & Christopher”
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fourth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
The Short Story Advent Calendar is back! And to celebrate its fifth anniversary, we’ve decided to make the festivities even more festive, with five different coloured editions to help you ring in the holiday season.
No matter which colour you choose, the insides are the same: it’s another collection of expertly curated, individually bound short stories from some of the best writers in North America and beyond.
(This is a collection of literary, non-religious short stories for adults. For more information, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.)
As always, each story is a surprise, so you won’t know what you’re getting until you crack the seal every morning starting December 1. Once you’ve read that day’s story, check back here to read an exclusive interview with the author.
Want a copy? Order one here.
I’m pairing music this year with some Christmas songs that I have come across this year.
This story was also fantastic. The story itself is wonderful and the way it was written–in three distinct parts–was really effective,
Part 1 is in the third person. It concerns Hazel and her childhood–when she was a boy. Her best friend was Christopher and they hung out all the time. They talked about everything. They talked about gayness once, and Christopher was pretty much against it.
As they got older, Hazel moved away but they still talked on the phone a lot. Christopher was always happy to talk, “He didn’t have the same emotional needs back then and even as a young teenager, Hazel recognized that. But he always made time for her. He did.”
She last saw him when they were twenty. She was visiting her aunt for Christmas and stopped by his house. He had some of his dude friends over I loved this line, “There was a particular kind of American, Hazel had learned since, who was bummed to know that Canadians drank Bud.” They all went drinking. When Hazel brought up the guy who had just come out as trans in their town, the other guys mocked him. Although Christopher said he had no problems with gay people, but gender reassignment… While they were out, Hazel couldn’t help but wonder how a guy in rural Manitoba knew about the phrase gender reassignment in the years before Chaz Bono was on a magazine. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 