Winter Lights

by on December 25, 2014 at 11:37 am
Posted In: Test

As part of my list of Christmas Traditions I finished my Christmas Eve with a quick jaunt to Candy Cane Lane (aka n.e Park Rd) one of the most popular Christmas Displays in the city.

I’v always been a fan of winter lights (I’m not being Culture Warrior/PC when I say this… When people start taking theirs down by Epiphany, I’ll start calling them Christmas Lights again) and regard them as one of the last true American Folk arts.

Personally I prefer a slightly minimalist approach accenting the shape of the house and yard, but I don’t mind garish and over the top as long as they are well done and these were very nice…. Enjoy!

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Christmas Playlist Day Nine

by on December 25, 2014 at 9:19 am
Posted In: Test

This is it folks. To finish up this year’s christmas playlist we have Oh Holy Night performed by Puddles Pity Party.  I’ve been a fan of Puddles since I was introduced to his Youtube performances a couple of months ago and I’ve been enjoying them ever since.

And Oh Holy Night is one of the few Christmas Carols that survives the annual month long saturation… It’s one of those songs I like for certain musical phrasings that I can listen to over and over… (heck even Eric Cartman can’t screw it up!)

So Puddles singing this is the perfect match. Enjoy!

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Christmas Playlist Day Eight

by on December 24, 2014 at 12:36 pm
Posted In: Test

As we get into the home stretch to Christmas tomorrow I thought I’d go with an old Disney classic of the 1932 Silly Symphony Santa’s Workshop, directed by Wilfred Jackson. As one can imagine, I’ve always been a fan of the mythology of Christmas. And while Disney is no Thomas Nast, he gets the job done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAlGg5q62vQ

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Christmas Playlist Day 07

by on December 23, 2014 at 12:13 pm
Posted In: Rhapsodies

Okay for today’s selection I’m going to drop my search for all things in Christmas cynicism and go for something completely soppy. With “It Feels Like Christmas” from the Muppet Christmas Carol. As a lover of both the Muppets and adaptations of Christmas Carol this is a favorite of mine. It is surprisingly close to the original material leaving in a lot of darker scenes that a lot of the more serious versions won’t even touch.

I’ve always liked the Ghost of Christmas present chapter the spirit is for all practical purposes a Dionysian pagan god who watches over all Christmas festivities.

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Christmas Playlist Day 06

by on December 22, 2014 at 10:28 am
Posted In: Rhapsodies

So here is on that I have been looking forward to doing, Duke Ellington‘s version of the Nutcracker Suite. I just love the way he has Tchaikovsky’s original melody drifts around the piece at first almost a subliminal accent behind Ellington’s brass section and then moving forward until it’s taken over completely.

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Pantomime Pony

by on December 21, 2014 at 10:38 am
Posted In: Test

It occurred to me that it was a shame that the appearance of the pony suit in Sunday’s strip is the only appearance it gets in the entire story line and you don’t even get to see it fully assembled!

So here it is in all it’s glory!

Pantomine-Pony

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