I try to have a little something for everybody during this annual seasonal music celebration. And since Hanukkah began at sundown this past Sunday, here are a couple tunes to assist your Maccabee-boy in getting festive. Here's a dub remix of the traditional " Oh Chanukah ." It fascinates me how little has to be done to reshape it. In places, you can hear the original song playing and it only takes the introduction of a new bassline to change the whole rhythm. Then, in a 1998 radio appearance, Chris Isaak does [...]
I've written before of my interpretation of It's a Wonderful Life (such as here briefly in '05 and here earlier this month .) as a rather grim view of life, rather than merely heartwarming fare. Now here's yet another take in the NY Times : Wonderful? Sorry, George, It's a Pitiful, Dreadful Life . Wendell Jamieson writes: Lots of people love this movie of course. But I'm convinced it's for the wrong reasons. Because to me "It's a Wonderful Life" is [...]
I have written a number of times of my fondness for bittersweet portrayals of Christmas. I guess that always feels natural to me. Who needs the constant pressure of merry ? And as much of an optimist as I am, I also tend to assume that some things are going to go wrong. Death is inevitable Entropy is built into the system. Yeah, merry friggin' Christmas to me... Anyway, I mentioned "White Christmas" the other day , but I forgot to link to this recent story in the NY Times [...]
Christmas songs are supposed to be about peace and love 'n' stuff, right? Really sincere sentiments. But we all know that sometimes Christmas can be crass and commercial. (Although I have argued that this is actually a central part of the Christmas tradition and not an aberration; see here .) Brit popster Robbie Williams offers one of the most insincere (and catchiest) expressions of holiday sentiment ever. He practically oozes oily cheer with every note. Peace and mercy to all men We're gonna get [...]
One of the most popular Christmas songs of the 20th Century is " White Christmas ." A lot of people don't sing the intro verse of the song, which goes like this: The sun is shining, the grass is green The orange and palm trees sway There's never been such a day In Beverly Hills, LA But it's December the 24th And I'm longing to be up north So, "White Christmas" is just a song about Christmas in L.A., written by a Russian Jewish [...]
Yesterday , I called New York City "an incredibly festive place this time of year." What it was, was cold and wet and dreary. Of course, this morning, with the rain stopped, it was much nicer. Tags: Christmas , New York , Manhattan
As I write this, I'm sitting on a train, headed for New York City. It's absolutely appropriate to continue this series of songs representing Christmas around the U.S. of A. with a trip to NY. It's an incredibly festive place this time of year. Today we have a couple of songs that capture a little bit of that magic. Even though the band Marah is originally from Philly, they recorded their 5th album If You Didn't Laugh, You'd Cry in Brooklyn, along with the holiday album A Christmas Kind of Town . [...]
Aside from Bill O'Reilly, there is no greater defender of this holiday than Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A. Here's a clip from 2005 and one from 2006 showing the Great Man in action. The Colbert Report Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Burritos Happy Holidays Colbert at Christmas Colbert Christmas [...]
As previously mentioned, Christmas is celebrated in different ways around the U.S. Here are two more. We head out to Seattle where we are reminded that somebody usually ends up having to work on Christmas Day. And sometimes you're far away from your family (or you don't talk to your family) and you've got nothing better to do but go out and see a movie with other losers. Somebody still has to sell you the ticket. This is the more spritely cover version by The Long Winters from last year, not the original version by [...]
Last year, I attended a Christmas concert and I heard the United Voices Scandinavian Youth Choir. A couple of tunes caught my ear and I looked into some Scandinavian holiday tunes. Here are a few for you. One popular number is "En stjerne skinner i natt" (A star shines tonight), which you can see as performed by some punk band and by 11-year-old Norwegian singer Nora Foss al-Jabri. Then, you get "Jul, jul, strålande [...]
There's nothing quite so festive as mocking Bill O'Reilly. I wrote a little diatribe about his "War on Christmas" in 2005 and it's pretty much all still true . Here are some classic shots from The Daily Show , from 2005 and 2006. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M - Th 11p / 10c Christmas with the Kranks [...]
In 2007, I had a major argument with an acquaintance of mine about whether Frank Capra's film It's a Wonderful Life is - at its heart - a life-affirming, warm-hearted positive view of humanity (as she maintained) or a dark, bitter view of a guy who figures out how to carve out a sliver of happiness in the face of life's crushing disappointments (my position). I'm simplifying here. Today, the N.Y. Times ' A.O. Scott examines the film and seems to come to similar conclusions: Critics' Picks: [...]
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M - Th 11p / 10c The Daily Show's Very Special Christmas Specials Christmas Special Barack Obama Interview John McCain Interview Sarah Palin Video Funny Election Video Steve Carell breaks it down in The Daily Show's Very [...]
It always amuses me that most of our notions of a traditional Christmas come straight out of Victorian England. The idea of a Winter festival go back forever, but a lot of the essential elements - sleigh rides, Christmas trees, holiday cards - come from there. What the hell does it really have to do with our lives now? A year ago, I interviewed Professor Stephen Nissenbaum , the author of the Pulitzer-Prize nominated book The Battle For Christmas , and we discussed many of the key economic issues that [...]
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M - Th 11p / 10c Produce Pete with Steve Carell - Victorian Christmas Barack Obama Interview John McCain Interview Sarah Palin Video Funny Election Video A classic moment from December 19, 2002. Tags: [...]
The Santa-God paradigm is interesting. Both big guys with beards, all-powerful and aware, making judgments on your moral worth. And, you know, you get down on your knees and you express a desire for something and then the Big Guy doesn't come through. What does that do to one's belief system? Well, some people become atheists and some become true believers and some just marshal on through life with a knowledge that disappointment is our cross to bear. So here are two songs about being disappointed by Santa. I don't know [...]
I've sort of made my peace with P. J. O'Rourke. In the past, I regarded him as excessively snarky and he's certainly not in line with my politics, but he's a clever writer and he was probably right and I was probably wrong about some stuff in the Eighties. Thanks to Kevin Drum , I read O'Rourke's new piece on the House of the Future at Disneyland, both the past and present versions. In many ways, it's a meditation on our interest in looking forward to the future or back at the past. But [...]
I'm kinda rushed on this, because I was out of town for Thanksgiving, but it is December 1 and I wanted to get the annual Christmas music orgy started. Take a look at this post (or this one ) to get the background, but the short version is that I've been collecting holiday music for decades and now you get to hear a few selections. Although, upon further reflection, I guess I don't have that much for as long as I've been at it, but as I've said before, [...]
In the Eighties, I had several reliable radio choices in L.A. There was KROQ, the new wave/alternative rock station. The was KCRW, the NPR affiliate. And there was KPFK, the Pacifica affiliate. KROQ was admittedly commercial, even back in its glory days (It has totally sucked for many years). KCRW did present some alternative music choices, such as English acts even KROQ wouldn't play. On KPFK, I'd hear stuff like Charles Ives and obscure 50's R&B. It was a good combo. But even back then, as good as KCRW was, it seemed a little [...]
There's kind of a rule in national politics. Man, you better at least carry your home state. Walter Mondale got creamed by Reagan in '84, but he won his home state of Minnesota . In part, Al Gore lost in 2000 because he didn't win his home state of Tennessee . So, it's probably not helpful for John McCain that he's in a little bit of trouble in his home state of Arizona . I'm not convinced he'll lose there tomorrow, but I'd be very pleased if he did. Not because of what it [...]
The Pop View
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
