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Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category

Charles Dickens–A Christmas Carol: In Prose: Being A Ghost Story of Christmas (1845)

Posted in 19th Century, A Christmas Carol, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, Danú, Ghosts, History, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Patrick Kavanagh, Short Story, Supernatural on December 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

books SOUNDTRACK: DANÚ: An Nollaig in Éirinn: Christmas in Ireland Live in Concert (2010).

danu cdWe saw Danú perform a Christmas show last year.  The show was wonderful, so we bought the CD.

The CD is a live show much like the one we saw, so not only is it a Christmas album, but it’s a nice memento of the show.  Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh’s voice is beautiful–a soaring, angelic sound and the performance of the band is amazing.

The disc is a mix of beautiful ballads (Irish specific and those familiar to all) and rollicking instrumentals.  The ballads, most sung by Muireann include “The Wexford Carol” (a traditional song); “Angels We Have Heard on High” (gorgeous–with audience participation); “Le Coinnle na nAingeal” a lovely, slow ballad about putting candles in the window

n Irish and English) and “Le Coinnle na nAingeal.”  She even got the audience to sing along to some of the Irish words in “The Boys of Barr na Sráide” and, of course, we all chimed in on “Angels We Have Heard on High.”

The rollicking numbers include “The Slide Set” (Scartaglen Slide and two reels: “The Hunters Purse” and “The Reconciliation”); “Round the House Set” (some fun dance numbers); and “The Polkas.” “Apples in Winter/The Frost is All Over” is a charming instrumental, the second half of which is all about the button accordion (amazing playing!).

Some other songs include “A Christmas Childhood” is a spoken poem by Patrick Kavanagh set to a piano melody.  “The Boys of Barr na Sráide” is an anthem from Kerry in which boys hunt for a wren on the feast of St Stephen. It is a slow song and the was much audience participation when we saw them.  “Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake” is a very funny tale about a deadly Christmas Cake–a fun sing along with silly lyrics.

The show and disc end with “Oíche Chiúin/Silent Night” a lovely rendition that segues into an amazing bodrhan solo (Martin O’Neill is fantastic–the sounds he gets out of this one drum are staggering).  It ends with a whooping song called “Contradiction.”  The encore is a beautiful duet called “The Parting Glass” and, since no Irish set should end in a mellow way, “The Christmas Eve Reel” ends with a wonderful stomping song.

The show was fantastic and the CD is great too.  There’s no between-song banter, which is a shame, but which also keeps the set a reasonable length.  It’s a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas, even if there’s not many familiar Christmas songs.

[READ: December 10, 2014] A Christmas Carol

Obviously, I know A Christmas Carol.  Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future etc.  I have seen the play, I have listened to Patrick Stewart’s reading and I’ve seen nearly every movie and TV version. But I have never actually read it.

I found the story to be really enjoyable.  And for Dickens, the story is pretty compact. There are few moments where he throws in a lot of extra bits and pieces, but the action moves pretty swiftly.

I think one thing that I was surprised by was that Scrooge is moved by the very first spirit that comes along.  In my memory he isn’t that impressed by the first one, but in the story he is ready to give in after his trip to his childhood.  I was also surprised to see that Scrooge’s nephew plays a pretty big role at the end. In my memory (or maybe in condensed versions—or the Grinch, anyhow), Scrooge eats with the Cratchits.  But no, he sends them the goose with no word given (and we never see their reaction) and then has dinner with the nephew who invited him early in the story (Dickens is nothing if not tidy in cleaning up loose ends). (more…)

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Nikolai Gogol–The Night Before Christmas (1926) [translated 2011]

Posted in Christmas, Christmas Album, Constance Garnett, Demons, Foreign Books, Funny (ha ha), Marriage Trouble, New Directions Pearls, Nikolai Gogol, Poo, Rivers Cuomo, Russia, Short Story, Translation, Witches on December 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

gogolSOUNDTRACK: ANDY WILLIAMS-Merry Christmas (1965).

awxmasMan, I love some Andy Williams at Christmastime.  I don’t really know much about him at other times of the year and I imagine that I would never listen to him, but he is one of the voices of Christmas. I like his voice so much even if I don’t love all the songs on this record.

His “Sleigh Ride” is the essential version–boppy and fun–you can imagine zipping along on a sleigh with jingle bells bouncing along.

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is a bit slow, but “Winter Wonderland” sounds great.  His “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” is fun–he can really belt out those notes and “Silver Bells” is also a highlight.

The choice of “My Favorite Things” (from The Sound of Music) is unexpected, as it has nothing to do with Christmas, but his rendition is wonderful.  “Christmas Holiday” is a song I don’t know but Williams belts it out as well.  “Do You Hear What I Hear” is also great.

“Some Children See Him” is a fascinating song that I haven’t heard too much (although Rivers Cuomo does a cover of it(!)).  It’s all about how children from different countries see Jesus a different way (a rather progressive idea).

“Little Altar Boy” is a slow and somewhat ponderous song that I’m unfamiliar with.  The final two songs “Mary’s Little Boy Child” and “The Bells of St. Mary” are pretty but not fun (as you would assume from the titles).

So I love about half the disc and like most of the rest.  Williams has an earlier Christmas album as well.  I think I’d like to pick and choose between the two discs for a great Williams collection.

[READ: December 23, 2014] The Night Before Christmas

I had intended to read all Dickens stories this week.  And then my latest New Directions Pearl arrived and it was this one: The Night Before Christmas (also translated as Christmas Eve) by Nikolai Gogol.  Well, that put a change in my plans.

I don’t know much about Gogol, although apparently he wrote only short stories (no novels).  My book has a quote from Dostoevsky that says, “We all came out of Gogol’s overcoat.”  So imagine my surprise when this night before Christmas is actually about witches and the devil and affairs with beautiful women!

The story is set in Dikanka, Ukraine.  It is Christmas Eve and, according to legend, that is the night in which the devil is free to perform tricks and torment people.  Before the devil comes, we see a witch flying around the sky collecting stars.  The devil decides that he is going to steal the moon–this will make it very dark so he can create even more mischief.  The moon proves to be very hot, and he winds up juggling it a few times until he gets it into his pocket.

The devil decides to get back at Vakula, the village blacksmith.  In addition to being the blacksmith, he is also an artist and he has painted some really cruel pictures of the devil on the side of the church.  And the devil is pretty miffed about this.  So he sets an elaborate plan in motion. (more…)

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Charles Dickens–The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home (1845)

Posted in 19th Century, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, History, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Short Story, Supernatural on December 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

books SOUNDTRACK: STARS OF CHRISTMAS (2008).

starsxmasI believe that I bought this collection because it was cheap–a new disc of interesting mixes for Christmas  Well, given the artists on the cover (my cover is actually different, but similar), I had no idea that I was in for a largely classic/formal collection of songs.  True I probably should have looked at the list, but for a cheapie Christmas CD it seemed safe.

The first several tracks are done is very operatic style.  Many other tracks are done in an almost church-like atmosphere.  Nothing inherently wrong with these versions, indeed, many of them are quite lovely but they’re not what I like in Christmas songs and, frankly there’s too much of it on this disc (it’s nearly an hour long).

MARIO LANZA-“I Saw Three Ships” and SERGIO FRANCHI-“It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” Operatic and JOHN DAVIDSON-“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” are all very formal and operatic.  ED AMES-“Joy to the World” is also operatic and it adds a backing vocal chorus.

Somewhat less operatic but still formal are PERRY COMO-“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” and ANDY WILLIAMS-“Angels We Have Heard on High.”  This all makes sense as these are religious Christmas songs.  Even the CAROL LAWRENCE and ROBERT GOULET version of “Carol of the Bells” features Goulet’s ponderous voice.  (It’s a nice version, but Lawrence can’t quite match him).

After these, the mood lightens somewhat.  DANNY KAYE-“Deck the Halls” is a bit more fun (as Danny Kaye would be).  And then comes the big WTF moment–AIR SUPPLY? doing “The First Noel.”  Their version is fine and doesn’t sound too out of place here.

Changing the tone somewhat, JULIE ANDREWS-“Patapan” I don’t really know this song very well.  Andrews does a lovely version of it.  It’s strange that there are two Christmas songs about drums.  And THE LENNON SISTERS, who I quite like, do “Silent Night.”  Their version is sweet and relaxing and reminds me of the singers from O Brother Where Art Thou?  JOSE FELICIANO-“The Cherry Tree Carol” is another song I don’t know.  This version is weird here since it’s on acoustic guitar with Feliciano’s delicate voice.

The best song on the disc is ARTHUR FIEDLER-“Sleigh Ride”.  This is the classic instrumental with strings and sleigh bells.  I’m surprised by the instrumental version of “Jingle Bells” by CHET ATKINS.  It’s guitar based and slightly countryish, but there’s no way to guess it’s from him.  EDDY ARNOLD-“Jolly Old St. Nicholas” is a song I vaguely know.  It also has country tinges.  It’s an unusual song what with asking Santa what he;s going to give you.

JIM REEVES-“O Come All Ye Faithful” changes the tone again.  This song is done on pipe organ.  It sounds like it was recorded in a church (which makes sense).  LORRIE MORGAN-“O Holy Night” I dislike this version quite a lot.  It feels rather pretentious and she does some weird melodies at times.  BURL IVES-“O Little Town of Bethlehem”  I like Ives, but not on this song.  It’s too slow or something.

The final two songs are just awful to me (which I know people will yet at me for saying)  GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS-“Away in a Manger” and ARETHA FRANKLIN-“Ave Maria.”  I’m not a big fan of Knight as it is, although I do usually like Aretha.  But man this version of “Ave Maria” is dreadful.   She starts wailing, horrible trills that are way out of place on this song.  And it’s nearly 7 minutes long.  Gah, what a dreadful way to end the album

So, there’s a few good songs here.  There’s a couple of nice version that might fit on a mix and then there’s some horrors.  Probably worth the $1.99 I paid for it.

[READ: December 10, 2014] The Cricket on the Hearth

I was unfamiliar with thsi story before reading it.  The author of the introduction to the book (Eleanor Farjeon) says she likes it better than “A Christmas Carol.”  I can see some reason for liking it more, but it’s not quite as impactful.

It’s a strange story with hidden identities, true love, fake love and crickets.

The story begins at John Peerybingle’s house.  He is a carrier, basically a mailman.  He is married to Dot and they have a new baby boy.  Their nanny, Tilly Slowboy (Dickens is none to subtle about names, eh?), is a simple girl who seems to have a knack for either smashing the baby’s head on things or just barely missing his head when she turns around.  When the story starts, John has just returned from his latest travel, and he is happy to be home.

Dot talks about the cricket that is chirping so loudly at the hearth (there’s a question from the narrator as to whether the cricket or the kettle made the noise first, and he maintains that it was the cricket).  Dot thinks fondly of the cricket, especially when John is away. She imagines that the cricket is looking over them every time it chirps. (more…)

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Charles Dickens–Christmas Stories [1-6] (1850-1853)

Posted in 19th Century, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, History, Marriage (Happy), Marriage Trouble, Set at School, Short Story on December 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

storiesSOUNDTRACK: CHRISTMAS: 16 Most Requested Songs (1992).

16This album features 16 “most requested” songs, but I don’t believe that they are the most requested versions of these songs.  These versions come from Colmbia’s back catalog and as such, none of them features any of the real Christmas heavy hitters.  Not that the version are bad, they’re pretty much all really good, they’re just not the “classic” versions.  Well, except for one or two.

GENE AUTRY-“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” Starting with the “You know Dasher and Dancer” verse, this is a nice, traditional version of the song and one I don’t hear as much as I’d think I would.  DORIS DAY-“Here Comes Santa Claus” Opens with a nice booming Ho Ho Ho from Santa. I like that there are ample sleigh bells in the song, even if the words are vaguely menacing (somehow even more so in this version). I’ve also always found the aggressively religious aspect of the song about Santa to be a bit peculiar.  JIMMY BOYD-“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” This is an inherently goofy song and I don’t care for the “serious” rendition this is given.  I also don’t care for songs sung by “kids.” Although I do admit to thinking this song was cute when I was a kid.  ROSEMARY CLOONEY-“Winter Wonderland” This version is a little too precious for my liking.

GENE AUTRY-“Frosty the Snowman” This is another straight reading of this silly song—very children friendly and a good version.  JOHNNY MATHIS-“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” I don’t care for Mathis’ voice so I don’t like this version.  THE RAY CONIFF SINGER-“Silver Bells” This is ajoyful, sweet rendition of the song, even if it is extremely uptight sounding. (it evidently comes from “The Lemon Drop Kid”).  ROBERT GOULET-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (from “Meet Me in St. Louis”).  Goulet’s voice is pretty magnificent, it might even be a little too much for this little song.  PATTI PAGE-“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” This is a version with kids singing along. And with Patti telling them to behave, it also has a menacing feel to it. I guess Santa really could be kind of a nasty guy huh?  MITCH MILLER & THE SING-ALONG GANG-“The Twelve Days of Christmas” It’s hard to make this song not sound really tedious, but these guys do it pretty fast and in a very specific, marching style. It’s almost military in it’s seriousness, which does take some of the romance out of the song, but I like it nonetheless.

ANDY WILLIAMS-“Sleigh Ride” Andy Williams has a quintessential Christmas voice.  I’m glad Columbia has him for this collection. It’s fast fun and joyful. ANGELA LANSBURY, FRANKIE MICHAELS, JANE CONNELL and SAB SHIMONO-I love that Lansbury has such a great singing voice since in my mind she’s only ever been Murder She Wrote. And she wails this. (This version comes from “Mame.”  I didn’t know it came from a musical.  And I love th eline that I never noticed before: “But it’s one week past Thanksgiving Day now”).  MEL TORME-“The Christmas Song” The Velvet Fog’s version is quite nice, but doesn’t quite match Nat “King” Cole’s for pure classicness (although, huh, Torme wrote the music for this song).  TONY BENNETT-“White Christmas” I’m not a big fan of Tony Bennett and I don’t like this version of this song—it’s too spread out.  JULIE ANDREWS-“Silent Night” a very pretty and pure version of this song. Although I don’t find it as moving as other versions.  MAHALIA JACKSON-“Joy to the World” I know she’s a legend, but I really don’t like Mahalia’s versions of songs—she’s a just too over the top for me.

So, overall, this is a good, if safe collection of Christmas songs. Not my favorite bunch but a lot of good versions here, and one or two great ones.  And there are even a couple of under-played ones.

[READ: December 8, 2014] Christmas Stories

I intended to read A Christmas Carol last year during Christmas time but since we saw the play, I decided not to.  So this year I figured I would read as much of Dickens’ Christmas Books as I could during the month of December.  Then I misplaced Christmas Books, so I picked up Christmas Stories.

Christmas Stories does not include “A Christmas Carol.”  Rather, it includes 21 “stories”  ranging from a few pages to over a hundred pages long.  They appeared in Household Works, a publication which Dickens created to “bring himself even closer to his many followers.”

I chose to write about these first six together because they are the shortest pieces in the book and they can kind of be lumped together.  These are strange pieces because they are not really stories.  They are more like nostalgic or even moralistic moments in which Dickens conveys the Christmas spirit through some characters.

For frame of reference Dickens was born in 1812.  He wrote Oliver Twist around 1839 and “A Christmas Carol” in 1843. (more…)

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B. J. Novak–One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories (2014)

Posted in Alternate Reality, B.J. Novak, Books about writers, Christmas, Christmas Album, Death, Elvis Presley, Funny (ha ha), Hitler, Humiliation, Jealousy, New Yorker, Short Story on December 4, 2014| 1 Comment »

one moreSOUNDTRACK: OLD NAVY HOLIDAY HITS (2003).

oldIt seems that every year stores release their own Christmas mixes.  I feel like Old Navy was one of the first stores to do so (especially in their weird retro style).  What is surprising is just how much I enjoy this compilation.  It has a great mix of traditional and unusual.  There’s some cool remixes, there’s some unexpected “space-age” tracks and it’s just boppy and light and fun.  Until the end where they go for an unusual (although it somehow makes sense for Old navy) but unenjoyable song to end it with.

PEGGY LEE-“Winter Wonderland” A great, slightly space age version of this song.
ANDY WILLIAMS-“Sleigh Ride” I do love an Andy Williams Christmas song—earnest and clean and lots of fun.
HOLLY COLE-“Christmas Is” I don’t know this song that well.  It’s a fun, different Christmas song, done on a jaunty piano.
ELLA FITZGERALD-“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” I love Ella, and I love the horn blasts as the song opens and closes.
PATTI PAGE-“Boogie Woogie Santa Claus” I don’t love this version, which is surprising as I love this era, but I think I don’t like her voice that much.
CAPITAL STUDIO ORCHESTRA-“Cha Cha All the Way” one of my favorite swinging weird holiday songs.
THE PENGUINS-“Jingle Jangle” has a fun “native” beat to it. It’ sa n odd song and I don’t love the singer’s voice, but the music is fun.
RAMSEY LEWIS-“The Twelve Days of Christmas” a piano instrumental that sounds nothing like the song…fun though and appropriately Christmassey somehow.
DIANA ROSS AND THE SUPREMES-“The Land of Make Believe” I didn’t even realize this was Diana Ross—the production is so low key. And the shuffle beat and strings seems very much unlike the Supremes to me. It fits in well with these songs.
DUKE ELLINGTON-“Jingle Bells (Robbie Hardkiss Remix)” I love this remix a lot, it’s one of my favorite Christmas songs.
JACK JONES-“Mistletoe and Holly” another retro-seeming, very clean-sounding song. It’s kind of mockable but fun at the same time—like the best Christmas stuff.
MARVIN GAYE AND TAMMI TERRELL-“Two Can Have a Party” I really don’t like this song in general and it doesn’t feel holiday enough for this disc.  But it’s a harmless end to an otherwise fun collection of Christmas songs.

[READ: December 1, 2014] One More Thing

I really enjoyed Novak’s short piece “The Man Who Invented the Calendar” in the New Yorker (which is included in here). So I was pretty excited to read this collection of his “stories.”

There’s over 60 stories in this book. Many of them are really short (some are just a few lines).  And typically the shorter the pieces the funnier they tend to be (the super short ones are pretty much a perfect set up for a punchline).  But interestingly, there are several really long pieces (some over 10 pages) and these are more thoughtful and, while kinda funny, not meant to be laugh out loud funny.  It’s an interesting mix.  It’s especially interesting because at the end of the book, he has a piece called “Discussion Questions” in which he asks:

Did you flip through the book and read the shortest stories first?   The author does that, too.

If you do that, you will laugh a lot at the beginning and then have precious few laughs at the end, so don’t do that! (more…)

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Ian Lendler and Zack Giallongo–The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth (2014)

Posted in Acting, Animals, Children's Books, Christmas, Christmas Album, Death, First Second :01, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Ian Lendler, Play (Drama), William Shakespeare, Witches, Zack Giallongo on December 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

macbethSOUNDTRACK: SWINGIN’ CHRISTMAS PARTY! (2002).

swingI love big band music.  It’s what I grew up listening to.  So this seemed like an ideal collection for the holidays.  I mean all of the big names in big band are here.  It’s a little less raucous than I would have imagined, but for a low key kind of swinging party, it works very well

GLENN MILLER-“Jingle Bells” starts off the collection right, with big horns and fast beats.  I don’t love the main singer (I do like the way he twists some of the lyrics), but I do enjoy the really really un-hip backing vocalists.
RALPH FLANAGAN-“Winter Wonderland” is the kind of swing I like–big horns, more horns, all louder than the last.  I also tend to like my big band as instrumental, so this one is aces for me.
TOMMY DORSEY-“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” opens with a verse that I’d never heard before.  It sounds like it is coming from a tiny transistor radio, but is fun nonetheless.
FREDDY MARTIN-“Sleigh Ride” sounds like a very traditional version of this with pizzicato violins and smooth orchestration.  When the vocals come in, it sounds like it may have been used in every Christmas TV special during the 1940s and 1950s (the “horse” whinny at the end especially).  Perhaps a little too smooth for my liking.
VAUGHN MONROE-“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” features Monroe’s deep bass voice.  They tinker with the standard melody somewhat–singing on an occasional minor note, which is interesting.  But it’s still a nice romantic version of the song.
CLAUDE THORNHILL-“Snowfall” is a slow piano instrumental. It definitely does not swing.
SAMMY KAYE-“White Christmas” is, as I’ve said, really a sad song underneath, but this one actually sounds like it could have the backing vocalists wailing in tears as Kaye sings along.  Again, there will be no swinging here.  Never have the words “merry and bright” sounded so sad.
LARRY CLINTON-“Parade of the Wooden Soldiers” is a big swingin’ horn fueled romp (it has nothing to do with the The Nutcracker).  It always makes me laugh when the first minute or so of a big band song are rollicking and wild, and then when the vocalist comes in, the horns drops out and the song becomes really quiet (that happens here).
FATS WALLER-“Winter Weather” is not really a swinging song, but Waller’s voice sounds great and raspy in this piano and guitar based song.
BENNY GOODMAN-“Santa Claus Came in the Spring” is a song I’m unfamiliar with.  It’s got a good swinging feel, although lyrically it’s a bit suspect (if not sweet).
FATS WALLER-“Swingin’ Them Jingle Bells” is a swing version of Jingle Bells, with a lot of rollicking piano.  It’s good fun until the really weird vocals come in.  I guess it was something of a novelty (Waller seems to be having a lot of fun at any rate).
SPIKE JONES-“All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” is one of the oldie songs that I really don’t like.  I love Spike Jones, and I appreciate that it was a novelty hit (my father used to say this line every year).  But at 3 minutes of that weird squeaky voice, it feels way too long–and the fact that the middle just goes on and on is so weird.
GUY LOMBARDO-“Auld Lang Syne” is a pretty orchestral version of the song–probably the one you’ve heard every year.  A nice end to the party.

[READ: December 3, 2014] The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents Macbeth

I grabbed this at the library, not entirely sure what it was.  Could it really be a version of Macbeth?  Set in a zoo?  Well, yes it is.  It’s a version of Macbeth for kids as performed by animals in the zoo.

The plot is the same, but it is utterly simplified and made not only kid-friendly, but also funny.  Yes, Macbeth as comedy!

So the lion is Macbeth, a heroic figure if ever there was.  And the owl is the king.  Everything is great until th elion is hungry for…power!  Various other animals play different parts (some of them very humorously–like the blind mole as the guard).  And many other animals are in the audience (of course) and they get to comment on the performance too.   I particularly enjoyed the two tiny creatures (no idea what they are), one of whom loves the violence and the other one hates it. (more…)

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Grimaldi & Bannister–Tib and Tum Tum: #1 Welcome to the Tribe (2011) [translated 2013]

Posted in Adventure, Bannister, Barenaked Ladies, Calvin and Hobbes, Carol Klio Burrell, Children's Books, Christmas, Christmas Album, Cute, Funny (ha ha), Graphic Novel, Grimaldi, Indigo Girls, Translation, Woody Guthrie on December 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

tibSOUNDTRACK: INDIGO GIRLS-Holly Happy Days (2010).

hollyhappyI know I bought this for Sarah for Christmas a few years ago (I like that it looks like a present).  Sarah and I have both been fans of the Indigo Girls (and we’ve both seen them, but at different events).  This seemed like an obvious fun record for the holidays.  But we both felt a little let down by it.

I’m not exactly sure what’s not quite right, but after listening  again, I think the record is just too much of a downer for Christmas.  I mean even the Indigo Girls’ more serious songs counterbalance with lively singing, but much of this album feels very dirge-like to me.

The main unexpected thing for me is that the record is largely bluegrass-inflected–not something I expect from the Indigo Girls–or Christmas music.

But that’s just how it opens–banjos and fiddle and whooping on “I Feel the Christmas Spirit” a song I didn’t know before.  It’s fun, just unexpected.  “It Really is (a Wonderful Life)” reminds of Barenaked Ladies for some reason (not their voices obviously). It’s folky and is another a song I didn’t know.  I like it–it’s fun having new Christmas songs.
“O Holy Night” has a very weird quality to it.  I usually love this song, but I don’t really care for the way they did this one–it feels flat or something.  Or maybe it’s the violins and folk trappings?  Actually, the middle part (with their great harmonies) sounds really good–I guess it’s just the opening I don’t like.

“Your Holiday Song” sounds more like  a”real” Indigo Girls song–great harmonies, cool chord progressions.  (This one was written by Emily Saliers, so that makes sense).  It’s the first song I really like on the disc.

It’s the middle of the disc that really loses any steam it had.  “I’ll be Home for Christmas” is certainly a sad kind of song, but their version is practically suicidal.  Oh it’s such a downer with that slow violin solo.  Who would want to listen to this version of this song?
“Mistletoe” is an Amy Ray original.  Coming right after the downer of “I’ll be Home” this one is also slow and a downer.  I find that Ray’s voice also sounds really different on this song–I would never have guessed this was her.
“Peace Child” is the third downer in a row, and you just want to give up on your festive mood after this one.

But it picks up with a rollicking bluegrass “The Wonder Song” (written by Amy Ray).  It’s the most fun song on the disc and while it doesn’t scream Christmas, it is a holiday song.

Obviously no one is making “In the Bleak Midwinter” into an upbeat poppy song.  Their version is quite pretty, and their harmonies are wonderful.

Perhaps the strangest song is their cover of Woody Guthrie’s “Happy Joyous Hanukkah.”  It feels very Guthrie, which means it should be done in a folk style (which it is).  The surprise is the full bluegrass rendition of a Hanukkah song (how many Hanukkah songs have whooping in them?  It’s fun, though.

“Angels We Have Heard on High” sounds great with their harmonies.  Although the mandolin solo kind of brings the song down to earth in a weird way.

The disc ends as it middled, with a slow, mournful song,”There’s Still My Joy.”  While I know that not everyone is happy at Christmastime, this record goes a bit too far into the darkness for my liking.

[READ: December 2, 2014] Tib and Tum Tum

Here is another translated comic.  It is done with great flair by Carol Klio Burrel who also did Nola’s World.  This story is aimed more at kids though (but is not existential at all–see yesterday’;s post about translated stories).  The biggest surprise for me with this is that it is actually a series of one page strips rather than a long graphic novel (I think).  Well, there is a long story arc, but every page seems to have a “punchline” as if the story was sequential rather than continuous.

It’s a very simple premise. The book is set in caveman days.  Tib is a small boy with a giant birthmark on his face.  The other kids make fun of him for this.  His mother is overprotective (the joke about him always being safe is very funny) and his father is an oblivious storyteller (whoppers of tales, I must say).  In that first strip, Tib runs into Tum Tum, a baby dinosaur.  He is adorable (and a little scary too, of course).  And Tib decides that this red guy is pretty cool.  Tum Tum spends most of his time chasing (an eating) butterflies.

When Tib tells the elders about the dinosaur they tell him of course that dinosaurs are extinct.  (I love that the story is set in caveman times but that they talk in a more or less contemporary way (no grunting) and are knowledgeable (there’s a sewing joke which is very funny).  When he tries to show Tum Tum to them, the dinosaur hides so no one can see him.  Eventually his mom thinks he has an imaginary friend. (more…)

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Frederik Peeters–Aama: 1. The Smell of Warm Dust (2011) [translated 2013]

Posted in Adventure, Christmas, Christmas Album, Drinking, Drugs, Dystopia, Edward Gauvin, Fantasy, Frederik Peeters, Graphic Novel, Kristin Chenoweth, Robots, Sex, Technology, Translation on December 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

aamaSOUNDTRACK: KRISTIN CHENOWETH-A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas (2008).

chenoLast year I thought about doing a Christmas CD every day in December as my soundtrack.  But I forgot until a week or so in.  But this year I remembered.  Yuletide joy!

Since Sarah and I have a lot of Christmas CDs from over the years, I decided to just pick some at random this year.  And we start with this one which I got for Sarah I thought last year, but if it’s from 2008, perhaps I got it earlier?

I knew Chenoweth from her great role on Pushing Daisies.   I didn’t know she was a singer then.  She has since done some amazing runs in various roles and her voice is great.  This disc features a mix of traditional songs, a few more religious songs and a number of unexpected “mashups.”  It works pretty well, although it tends to cross the line into cheese a bit too much for me.

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” has her in great voice.  Although I hate the cheesey sax solo.
“Christmas Island” is a new favorite song for me.  Her version is fun (although the original Hawaiian version is much more fun).
“The Christmas Waltz” is a song I don’t know.  It is probably best song on the disc.
“Do You See What I See” also suits her voice very well.  It’s the first song to mash in another song (“Angels We Have Heard on High“) which is quite pretty
“Sleigh Ride/Marshmallow World” I like her part, I’m not sure about the blend.  I don’t know who John Pizzarelli is, but he sings it too clean.  The original of “Marshmallow World” is sung in an almost drunken fashion which makes the weird lyrics better.   Nevertheless, the two of them have a good vocal chemistry.  And there’s some goofy fun at the end.
“Sing” (you know, sing, sing a song).  It’s a really weird inclusion here.  But she sounds great.
“Silver Bells” also sounds great.
“Come On Ring Those Bells” is another song I don’t know.  This version is way too pop country for my liking.
“What Child is This” is also perfect for her voice.
“Home on Christmas Day” is another song I don’t know (who knew there were so many unfamiliar Christmas songs?), and it works well “Born on Christmas Day” is a rather dull more religious song, which seems somehow out of place.
“Sleep Well Little Children/What a Wonderful World” is another mash up. It works pretty well and I kind of get why she chose it to end the album, but it’s another weird non-Christmas related song.

So overall this is a decent Christmas album. There’s some lovely traditional songs, some odd choices, and a few clunkers.  But her voice is really fantastic throughout.

[READ: November 29, 2014] Aama

I’m surprised and delighted with how many unusual, translated graphic novels are being published in the States these days.  There’s always something about the art that screams “not American.”  So when I get books like this (especially if the author’s last name is Peeters), I immediately look for the translator to confirm my suspicions.  This book was translated by Edward Gauvin.

While translated childrens book often seem slightly weird to my family (fun, but always slightly askew), the graphic novels don’t usually seem as weird to me.  (Maybe the childrens authors just expect more existential thought from their kids).

Having said all of that, I found that I really couldn’t get into this story.  There were some great elements to it, in both storytelling and character creation, but, and maybe more will be explained in future books, but the main plot was a little too vague to me.

But I loved the way it was constructed.  We open on a man face down.  As he comes to, he realizes that he has no idea who he is.  While he tries to get himself together, a weird looking ape comes up and calls him Verloc.  The ape has no hair on his legs (so they look human).  The ape is named Churchill and he is a custom built robot.  As Verloc tries to come to grips with what’s happening, Churchill gives him his “memoirs” to read.  The book is “real paper” which Verloc appreciates.  And they started just a week ago.

Pretty cool opening. (more…)

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Rebecca Curtis–“The Christmas Miracle” (New Yorker, December 23 & 30, 2013)

Posted in Cats, Christmas, Death, Funny (strange), K'naan, Mali Music, New Yorker, Parenting, Rebecca Curtis, Short Story, Surreal, Yuck! on July 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CV1_TNY_12_23_13Blitt.inddSOUNDTRACK: MALI MUSIC-Tiny Desk Concert #366 (June 21, 2014).

maliMali Music is one man, born in Savannah, GA, but with a somewhat Jamaican vibe.  He plays three songs in this Tiny Desk Concert and each one is quite different.

In the first track, “Fight for You,” he raps over a beat and sample mix played by his DJ (DJ Slow Motion, who is behind the desk with him).  It’s interesting in that he raps with himself (his voice is played by the DJ as well, not looped).  His singing voice in this song tends towards the whiny which I don’t care for, especially since his main voice is so powerful.

The second track, “Make It In” he plays on an acoustic guitar.  The song is clever with lots of amusing asides and slight laughs in the lyrics too.  he more or less raps the verses but sings the chorus.

For the final song, he switches to keyboard (he says he learned piano at a very young age) and he plays a simple, uplifting ballad called “Beautiful.”  There’s a funny moment when he asks the crowd to sing along and then the DJ plays a sample of a crowd singing a long, which makes Mali laugh.

Mali is a pretty positive guy–he talks about things getting better and about himself really making a difference through his music.  It sounds like prideful boasting (and it will be interesting to see if he really does take off), but he also seems sincere in his desire for happiness.  The set reminds me a little of K’naan, at least in spirit.

[READ: June 19, 2014] “The Christmas Miracle”

After really enjoying “The Toast” a few months ago, I was delighted to get another story from Rebecca Curtis and her bristly narrator.

The story opens with the comment that cats were dying, “This happens, of course.”  But in this case they were dying in gory ways not to mention the cats belonged to her nieces.  The girls had seen the dead cats.  The narrator also points out that it is now Christmas, “The most magical, horrible, spiritual, dark, and stressful time of the year.”

Like with another Curtis story, this one is being told to someone, in this case, someone named K, a Russian Communist and “Jewish person who doesn’t believe Jesus was the son of God.”

The narrator explains her situation–she was teaching creative writing but hadn’t written anything herself in years  She had contracted Lyme disease (does this all sound familiar from her other stories?). The disease causes inflammations and bouts of madness and “frank or rude speech, usually set off by eating carbohydrates.”

I love the way that Curtis writes although I’m unclear what Curtis herself believes because her narrator is just so contrary.  Like this awesome sentence:

“If cake was nearby I wasn’t always able to prevent myself from having one bite, then the sugar fed the Bartonella bacteria, which commanded me to eat more, and I would, and then I’d go insane.”  So she asked her sister not to have any sugar filled treats at Christmas.  Which her sister ignored, of course. (more…)

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Charles Dickens–A Christmas Carol (1843) [audiobook 1994–Patrick Stewart]

Posted in 19th Century, A Christmas Carol, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Death, Dreams, Ghosts, Marriage (Happy), Patrick Stewart, Short Books on December 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

[LISTENED TO: December 29, 2013] A Christmas Carol

patAfter enjoying the play of A Christmas Carol, we decided that since we were on a longish trip for Christmas, that we’d listen to the audiobook and see what was different.  The kids were certainly less engaged than a more kid-friendly book, and that’s understandable—the language is pretty opaque from time to time.  But I was pleased at how they were able to tell where we were in the story (as compared to the place) most of the time.

I felt that the play was different, so i was listening for them.  I don’t know anything about the adaptor of the play and his choices to change things—I don’t even know if the version we saw is a standardized version of the play (I feel like next year we should see it somewhere else for comparison).  But there were more than a few things that were changed. (more…)

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