Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category

Charles M. Schulz–The Complete Peanuts: 1957-1958: The Definitive Collection of Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip masterpiece: Dailies & Sundays (2005)

Posted in A Charlie Brown Christmas, Angst, Baseball, Charles Schulz, Comic Strips, Fantagraphics, Football, Funny (ha ha), Halloween, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Jonathan Franzen, Peanuts, Tiny Desk Concert on October 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

peanuts4SOUNDTRACK: BRIAN COURTNEY WILSON-Tiny Desk Concert #76 (August 25, 2010).

bcwBrian Courtney Wilson is not Brian Wilson. Rather, this Wilson sings  lovely religious songs.

This is an overtly Christian performance and as such I did not really enjoy it. Having said that, his voice is terrific and his backing vocalists are subtle and uplifting without overpowering the music.

He sings three songs: “All I Need” “Believe” and “Already Here.”  For some reason, there’s no video for “Believe” so you have to listen to the audio only track to hear it.

[READ: September 29, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1957-1958

Some new themes emerge in this, the fourth volume of the Complete Peanuts.  Charlie seems to get branded with the “wishy-washy” curse a lot more (except when it’s raining and he’s not willing to give up his baseball game).

The angst is getting heavier now too with Charlie Brown saying “sometimes I think my soul is full of weeds).   Then in April 1958 he says “It always rains on the unloved.”   Even the normally chipper Snoopy (who at one point says “to live is to dance, to dance is to live”) gets a little mopey and introspective “when I was a puppy every day was a happy day suddenly bang, and I’m in my declining years.”

I feel like Lucy and Linus are showing up a lot more.  And Pig-Pen, really a one-joke character is appearing less but has not been forgotten.

I particularly enjoyed the concern that the earth was overpopulated (from Lucy).  And after she says “The earth can’t feed this many people” Linus replies “Why Don’t You Leave?” (more…)

Read Full Post »

Kathy Page–“Red Dog” (The Walrus, December 2014)

Posted in Christmas, Death Cab For Cutie, Dogs, Kathy Page, Our World, Parenting, Short Story, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The Rutles on February 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

walrusdec SOUNDTRACK: THE BEATLES-Magical Mystery Tour (1967).

I have never remmtally thought of Magical Mystery Tour as a real album.  And it turns out I had good reason to feel that way.  It was originally released as a double EP in Britain (with the first six songs).  The rest of the tracks only ever appeared on the American release.  Those five songs were released as singles before this album In Britain and the U.S.), which means that this was the only place you could get these songs unless you bought the singles (eventually they were put out on the “blue album”).

So the first six songs are from the soundtrack to the TV movie Magical Mystery Tour (which was a flop as a film, but a hit as a soundtrack).  And the last five songs were released in different ways.

I’ve always liked “Magical Mystery Tour” it’s bouncy and fun with good harmonies.  I never much cared for “The Fool on the Hill” I tend to not like Paul’s piano ballads that much (they remind me too much of his solo and Wings material), although I do enjoy the way he wails the vocals later in the song.  The slide whistle solo is quite a treat and I also like the bass harmonica (my new favorite weird instrument).

This album also features two songs that I don’t know well at all (and I assumed I knew every Beatles song).  “Flying” is a weird fun little instrumental with “La La Las” at the end I really like it, and if I still made mix tapes I would often find a place for it on them.  And “Blue Jay Way” a song I don’t know at all.  It’s another George Harrison vaguely Indian song, although this one has more guitars than his other songs.  I find I can’t really get into it.  “Your Mother Should Know” is one of those songs that I like but I don’t love and don’t really think about too much.

But then there’s”I am the Walrus (“No you’re not, “said Little Nicola).”  It’s a cliché to really like this song but I really do.  It’s weird and goofy and the music is just fantastic.  I love all the elements (and didn’t realize that the spoken section at the end is King Lear).  I feel like The Beatles must have been huge to make a such a weird song become such a big hit.

And then came a bunch of singles: “Hello Goodbye” which I think hearkens back to the earlier Beatles, songs but which has a bit of the psychedelic elements form later Beatles thrown on top (including Paul’s shouting vocals in the background).

“Strawberry Fields Forever” was intended to be included on Sgt Peppers‘ but they needed a single to release during in the lengthy amount of time it was taking them to record the album (a whole nine months!).  This song holds up really well, with some really interesting chord progressions and mild dissonance.  And the middle of the song is fascinatingly split in the stereo version so that it’s all drums and sound effects in the left ear.  It was released as a double A side with “Penny Lane.”  Although I said I don’t really like Paul’ piano songs, I do like “Penny Lane” quite a lot, I find it very satisfying.

“Baby You’re A Rich Man” was the B-side to “All You Need is Love.” I always felt the song was kind of weird and it turns out that the two parts were two different songs (Lennon: verses; McCartney: chorus) that they just stuck together.  It’s a weird mic of fun sing along rocking chorus and peculiar Eastern melody in the verses.  “All You Need is Love” was first performed on Our World, the first live global television link watched by over 400 million in 25 countries.  The BBC had commissioned the Beatles to write a song for the United Kingdom’s contribution.  They apparently wrote a song that was simple enough for it to be universal, and man, were they right.

So, there’s all of these fabulous songs sort of tacked on to the end of this soundtrack.  Beatles releases were sure weird.

Incidentally, the film also used “Death Cab for Cutie” performed by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in its soundtrack which you can see here.  Obviously, this is where Death Cab for Cutie got their band name, but also, Neil from thee Bonzos was involved in The Rutles, who did such great parodies of Beatles songs.

[READ: January 15, 2015] “The Red Dog”

This was a sad holiday story about an eight year old girl with learning disabilities.  She evidently lives away from her family for most of the year but is allowed to come home for Christmas and the summer vacation.  It’s clear that Katie is a handful.  She tends to lash out easily, but she also seems to be able to control herself as well.

There’s some weird aspects of the story that I didn’t fully understand.  Like the fact that while her family ii shopping they tell her to stay outside because they’re afraid she will damage things in the store.  But her family leaves her outside for at least a half an hour, just standing in front of the store (“don’t move an inch”).  And she behaves, even though it is rather difficult.  But really, they leave her standing outside of a store for over half an hour? (more…)

Read Full Post »

Charles Dickens–The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New One In (1844)

Posted in 19th Century, Charity, Charles Dickens, Christmas, Christmas Album, Death, History, It's a Wonderful Life, My Morning Jacket, Short Story, Supernatural on January 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

books SOUNDTRACK: MY MORNING JACKET-Does Xmas Fiasco Style: We Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! (2000).

mmjxmasWe heard a song from this on WXPN the other day and Sarah bought it for me for Christmas.  I have really liked My Morning Jacket’s newer music, and I like their earlier stuff, but a little less.  This seems to fall somewhere in between.

This also seems to be about the worst actual Christmas album that I like very much.  There is virtually no Christmas feel to it, even if many of the songs feature the word Christmas somewhere.  Basically My Morning Jacket are doing their own thing, and they sound great–lengthy jams of acoustic alternative rock and Jim James’ soaring vocals.  It’s a lovely piece of music, it just doesn’t feel like Christmas (so it was nice to end the Christmas music posts with it).

There are six songs “Xmas Curtain” would be released on their second album the following year (so they made this after releasing one album!).  It is a cool song although it seems to be more about criminals than Christmas.  There are lovely harmonies and a strange steel drum sound for the melody.  “I Just Wanted to Say” is a slow guitar picked song.  It does reflect holiday sentiment: “wishing you happy holidays.” Once again gorgeous chorus and harmonies.  Although there’s a long instrumental section at the end which kind of makes it lose the Christmas spirit (the song is over 6 minutes long).

“Christmas Time is Here Again” is really the first explicit Christmas song. It’s a lovely song and kinda feel Christmasey.  Of course, if they  wanted a nice simple Christmas song it should end at 3:40.  But rather they tack on a lengthy (very pretty) instrumental section. I love what they play, but it make you lose sight of the earlier part of the song even if the lyrics do repeat again. The bells are nice at the end.

“New Morning” is a Nick Cave song, not exactly Christmasey but very pretty.  The other very Christmasey song is “Santa Claus is Back in Town.”  This is apparently an Elvis song (the backing vocals of “Chris-mussss”) give it a very fifties sound.  This could also easily end at 4 minutes, but they tack on a bunch of guitar nonsense at the end for an extra minute and a half.  These little flourishes aren’t bad, and this is clearly a fun fan record, but you’re not going to get on a Christmas compilation with all that extra business.

The final song is a “hidden track.”  It is the lengthy instrumental from “Christmas Time is Here Again” but played by itself (with the whole band).  As I said, it’s lovely.  Of course it’s fades after 2 minutes, but then gets louder and runs a total of 7 minutes–those jokesters.

[READ: December 10, 2014] The Chimes

I didn’t know this story at all.  It turns out to be more of a New Year’s story than a Christmas story, despite it being in the Christmas Books book.

The story is centered around Toby Veck, known as Trotty because of his usual walk.  Trotty is a messenger.  But his main feature is that he is obsessed with the chimes, the Bells, at the churchtower.  He believes that they speak to him.  It sounds like he sleeps out under the bells, but I gather that he actually just spends most of his time outside so he can be a messenger to others.

It is a cold cold New Year’s Eve night.  His daughter, Meg, brings him a large feast of tripe (she drags out his trying to guess what it is).  He is thrilled at the boon of such a feast.  While he is enjoying the food, she reveals that she is going to get married to her fiancee Richard the next day. Trotty seems concerned by this but before he can say anything, he is interrupted by Alderman Cute and his associate Mr Filer.  The Alderman basically gives them all a hard time.  He criticizes Trotty for eating tripe (which he says is the most wasteful of all foods?!), he criticizes the poor in general (and talks about arresting just about everyone) and he criticizes Meg and Richard for planning to get married.  He says that Richard could do much better and that if they do marry they will just wind up poor with unwanted children.  What a dick. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Anthony Bourdain–“Christmas Story” (Lucky Peach, No. 13: The Holiday Issue: Winter 2014)

Posted in Anthony Bourdain, Christmas, Christmas Album, Dorie Greenspan, Food, Lisa Hanawalt, Lucky Peach, Mark Ibold, Peter Meehan, Short Story, Travel, Yuck! on December 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

peach13SOUNDTRACK: ULTRA LOUNGE: CHRISTMAS COCKTAILS Hi-Fi Holiday Cheer from Santa’s Pad (1996).

xmastails1Because I am a total hipster, I love these Ultra Lounge collections.  Actually, I don’t think we were called hipsters when these collections first started coming out, but I have loved all of them.  And I especially love these Christmas ones.  Indeed, this may be my favorite Christmas album of all.

I’d say in part it’s because I great up listening to big band and I can totally imagine my parents being into this back in the day.

BILLY MAY-“Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer” opens with a crazy yelling of all of the reindeer names.  Then a funny, almost drunken, sounding horn version of the song with weirdly shouted phrases throughout. It really sets the mood.  PEGGY LEE-“Winter Wonderland” is a more familiar and traditional version of the song—it’s delightful although it’s hard to reconcile with that earlier piece.  RAY ANTHONY-“Christmas Trumpets / We Wish You A Very Merry Christmas” is a wonderful sorta cheesey version of “Jingle Bells” and other songs on trumpets.  LOU RAWLS-“Christmas Is” Rawls’ voice, which I don’t love in general works well for this song.  I like the big horns in the middle.  JIMMY McGRIFF-“Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town / White Christmas” this is some fun, easy listening Hammond organ instrumental.  It is 6 minutes of ice rink spectacular.

JULIE LONDON-“I’d Like You For Christmas”  The backing vocalists singing the tune of “Jingle Bells” (but slowly) and then Julie sings a slow romantic song that I’m unfamiliar with. Not my fave—too slow and I don’t care for the backing responders.  AL CAIOLA- “Holiday On Skis” but this is a zippy and fun instrumental on guitar.  KAY STARR-“(Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With The Bag” is a fun silly song and I like this version.  HOLLYRIDGE STRINGS- “Jingle Bells / Jingle Bell Rock” I love this swinging string version that is fun and a little off with the musical runs.  I would like more by the Hollyridge Strings who are known for their easy listening renditions of classic songs.

DEAN MARTN-“I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” I love this classic version.  EDDIE DUNSTEDTER-“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus/Jingle Bells Bossa Nova” a wonderful ice rink version with a bossanova flair–the best way to hear the first of these two songs (instrumentally).  RAY ANTHONY AND HIS BOOKENDS “Christmas Kisses” wonderfully cheesey and fun song about kisses for Christmas.  I didn’t know this song before this version.  JACKIE GLEASON-“I’ll Be Home For Christmas / Baby, It’s Cold Outside”  The first bit is a somber, pretty instrumental version of the song, it is strangely mingled with a wild whistling version of the second song.  Gleason is wonderfully campy.  NANCY WILSON-“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” Sweet version. I think I like Nancy Wilson a lot more than I realized.  CAPITOL STUDIO ORCHESTRA-“Cha-Cha All The Way”  The best Christmas song ever.

NAT KING COLE-“The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)” I love this song very much and Nat’s version is the best. I’m not exactly sure it belongs on this compilation, but I never don’t want to hear it.  LES BROWN AND HIS BAND OF RENOWN-“The Nutcracker Suite” I love this whole version of various Nutcracker pieces (it’s clear that Brian Setzer used this as the basis for his swinging version). I love the Nutcracker in general but this is so much fun.  FRED WARING-“Ring Those Christmas Bells” This opens with various songs thrown together by a jolly group of carolers. Then a jolly version of “Ring those Christmas Bells” another song I don’t know but which I like a lot.  THE CONTINENTAL-“Violets For Your Furs”  This is a strange “bonus” track in which over soap opera music an accented Lothario comes on to a woman with violets for her furs.  Weird. PEGGY LEE/NAT KING COLE./NANCY WILSON-“Toys For Tots”  weird “toys for tots” refrain, but nice vocals from the trio asking for help with the program (who knew it was that old?).  The final track is JOHNNY MERCER-“Jingle Bells” which is a fun Christmas Card from Capitol Records–I wonder who received this?

[READ: December 26, 2014] “Christmas Story”

After reading enough Lucky Peaches I have learned that chefs are bad-tempered, foul-mouthed individuals, who relish good living and big eating (and drinking).  So it should come as no surprise that Bourdain as a fiction writer lives up to that essence in his stories (vulgarities abound and there’s lots of good food).

This is the story of Ricky, a chef whom the narrator learned from.  Ricky was a lifer in the business, having worked first in the army and then as a line cook and for the past two decades as head chef for a club.

Ricky had a sixth sense–he could look at a crowd and determine what they were going to order before they even knew it.  He would be able to determine that they needed more shrimp or if the crowd was just a simple pigs in blankets bunch just by the way they walked in.

Ricky liked the narrator and so gave him Christmas off this one year–a rarity in any chef job.  The narrator was psyched until his wife said that they should cook and serve Christmas dinner, real traditional-like, to their families.  The narrator said he could do a room of 200 easily but a dinner for 12 freaked him out.

So he asked Ricky’s advice.

And the bulk of the end of the story is Ricky’s suggestion for what to cook (it’s like a huge long recipe).  I appreciated the idea that putting stuffing in a turkey is like a breeding ground for bacteria.  But I really liked his idea that you should cook two turkeys, a big one and small one.  The small one is the stunt turkey.  When it is cooked, you bring out the stunt turkey to the table but you have already carved the larger turkey so that moments later you bring in the bird all carved up and everyone oohs.  But more importantly, with two turkeys you know you will always have enough food.

It worked for the narrator, and would probably work for you, too.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

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…)

Read Full Post »

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…)

Read Full Post »

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…)

Read Full Post »

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…)

Read Full Post »

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…)

Read Full Post »

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…)

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »