For our first Rhapsody let’s start with a Hungarian Rhapsody, but not Liszt, honest! This one is opus 68 by David Hopper performed by Victoria Simonsen.
http://vimeo.com/105437024
For our first Rhapsody let’s start with a Hungarian Rhapsody, but not Liszt, honest! This one is opus 68 by David Hopper performed by Victoria Simonsen.
http://vimeo.com/105437024

Well I have to confess that New Year was never that much of a big deal for me. For quite a while until my teens I didn’t even “believe” in New Year’s Day. (Not that I didn’t believe there was a new year, just that it was an arbitrary choice and that technically every day is a New Year)
Sure I liked being invited to a nice party, but otherwise my celebration usually consists of staying up to listen to the countdown on the radio. However I frequently feel a little guilty about just blowing it off, and like to do something. Back when I lived in Rhode Island, Providence had a very nice First Night celebration (they still do but the last time I visited my folks for Christmas what it is now was just not as good) I’m told there’s a nice one in Tacoma but that’s a little bit out of my range for something to do.
So rather than go to a bar and get drunk with 100 0f my best friends (and I didn’t want to blow a work day with a hangover) I decided to go check out New Year’s at the Seattle Center.
So I worked until ninish, bundled up, and headed out. It was crowded when I got there and this was not helped by the fact that for whatever reason there was only one entrance into the center which meant, among other things I couldn’t park my bike where I planned. But after that I realized I probably headed out a lot later, since I had an hour and a half before the fire works started.
Not to say I did not enjoy myself. The people watching was as fun as always, there was an ice rink, music, a neat train display with a model of a nineteenth century town, and people protesting police murders. (I heard they would be pressent having read about it in the news. I just assumed they would have been better organized. Frankly they were barely as visible as the traditional batch of obnoxious evangelists.)
Anyway when the time came the fireworks were great. I’m finding it amusing that now that I have a recording device on me at all times It’s an effort not to watch what you are recording on the little monitor and watch the actual event!
Anyway it took a little while to get home partially due to the crowds and traffics but also from being steered through the single exit which was NOT the exit I had strategically stayed close to so I could get a head start.
Anyway I got home at one and slept VERY well.
Hope everyone else had a great night and Happy New Year!
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!
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!
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.
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.