Saturday, December 3, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
12-2-11 Snoopy Holiday Tumblers!
Look what I got! Another early Christmas present! Christmas Snoopy glasses :)
12-2-11 I brought you a present...
Why yes, there IS a big floppy tennis ball we love right behind me that you've been throwing endlessly for us.
But this is better.
We fetched you your very own Christmas present.
It wasn't doing anything on that garland you keep meaning to tie to the banister, so we decided you should have it.
And then give it to us again.
So we can bring it back to you, not much worse for wear.
Well, a little worser each time...
Ok, maybe a lot worser.
(It's the look on Evan's face above, like the excited baby brother, that gets me.)
But .... do you like it?
12-2-11 Christmas Song(s) of the Day #2: White Christmas
You have to get to 3:33 for the Jimmy McGriff White Christmas I'm after here. There is something about that Hammond B3 that gets me every time.
I hear it and I'm instantly transported back to being 4 years old, laying on the hard brick/tiled floor of our house on Kirkdale with those brown headphones that pushed my cheeks out, like a chipmunk's about to pop, listening to Daddy's albums.
Play it, Jimmy.
Oh, you want lyrics?
Ok, well the Drifters have this one locked up then.
Some accounts have Irving Berlin writing this poolside in Arizona in 1940. I'd be dreaming of a white Christmas in that heat, too.
Here's Louis Armstrong performing it a decade later with one of the original orchestras who recorded the song 1942:
And, of course, the most famous, the first, and still one of the most beautiful, remains Bing Crosby's version. He sang the song for the first time on Christmas Day 1941, only weeks after the December 7 bombing of Pearl Harbor. How many young GIs were shipping out that Christmas? It still stands as the best selling single of all time.
For a girl growing up in Houston, I had to fib a little singing "just like the ones I used to know" but I guarantee you the "dreaming of a white Christmas" part couldn't have been any more fervent or sincere.
ok, just one more instrumental:
no, I lied...
Thursday, December 1, 2011
12-1-11 Christmas Song(s) of the Day #1 Please Come Home for Christmas
So I snuck in Sleigh Ride before the starting bell, sue me.
This is officially the first post, with one a day to follow, of favorite Christmas songs and favorite renditions.
Some may be favorites for odd reasons, granted.
Case in point: Charles' Brown's "Please Come Home for Christmas" as recorded and distributed on the Billboard's Greatest Christmas Hits. Listen, without bias please, at the 25 second mark and tell me what that sounds like.
I hear "crispycreata ... ooh, once again" every single time. (Yes, I know the lyrics. I still can't make out "to wish me greetings" even when I try.)
This version, less played, is completely articulate. What gives? This one never gets any radio play.
#3. Check out Winter brother's sound:
Other versions for your consideration:
Willie Nelson, well, because he's Willie.
Jon Bon Jovi, who is, admittedly, awfully sexy (and so freaking young) pining away for Cindy Crawford. This must be the reason for his YouTube video to appear first in the search by title and have nearly 2 million views, about 5 times more than any other.
Want more? Try Pat Benatar, Aaron Neville, or Luther Vandross for some nice variations.
How's that for post #666?
This is officially the first post, with one a day to follow, of favorite Christmas songs and favorite renditions.
Some may be favorites for odd reasons, granted.
Case in point: Charles' Brown's "Please Come Home for Christmas" as recorded and distributed on the Billboard's Greatest Christmas Hits. Listen, without bias please, at the 25 second mark and tell me what that sounds like.
I hear "crispycreata ... ooh, once again" every single time. (Yes, I know the lyrics. I still can't make out "to wish me greetings" even when I try.)
This version, less played, is completely articulate. What gives? This one never gets any radio play.
Version #2: The Eagles most famously remade this one in '78 and I have a weakness for Don Henley, but he's no Charles Brown, even with a mouth full of marbles.
#3. Check out Winter brother's sound:
Other versions for your consideration:
Willie Nelson, well, because he's Willie.
Jon Bon Jovi, who is, admittedly, awfully sexy (and so freaking young) pining away for Cindy Crawford. This must be the reason for his YouTube video to appear first in the search by title and have nearly 2 million views, about 5 times more than any other.
Want more? Try Pat Benatar, Aaron Neville, or Luther Vandross for some nice variations.
How's that for post #666?
12-1-11 from the phone files
I think I'll skip pointing out the grammatical issues here and just smile. :)
12-1-11 December Starts
The first day of the last month of 2011.
30193 page views later, I am writing post #664 with 31 days to hit my goal of 700 before 2012. Between Christmas music and tons of photographic opportunities, I think I've got this one in the bag.
The first day of the last month of 2011 finds me watching the snow come down pretty heavily out the windows with drying dogs at my feet after a rousing game of fetch in the 27° windy snow. I couldn't feel my fingers when we came back inside. Gloves next time.
Katy stirs up all the leaves under the snow to fetch the ball. Evan just stands there with this look on his face like, "Ok, you got this."
The first day of the last month of 2011 finds me watching the snow come down pretty heavily out the windows with drying dogs at my feet after a rousing game of fetch in the 27° windy snow. I couldn't feel my fingers when we came back inside. Gloves next time.
Katy stirs up all the leaves under the snow to fetch the ball. Evan just stands there with this look on his face like, "Ok, you got this."
Bru, on the other hand, is not having any of it.
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