Christmas Is Coming

[I may be just talking to myself here as it's been so long since I've posted anything that most likely everyone has rightly given up on me. Oh well, here goes anyway.]

Hello all. I've been around, but not commenting or posting - much too busy and dumbfounded from fending off the onslaught of real life. But, I got a sudden rush of Christmas cheer (no, I'm not drinking eggnog) so I decided to take advantage of it before I revert back into the general Scrooginess that is me these days.

I started my blog at this time last year, embedding some Christmas songs, so I'll do it again. Listening to Christmas songs makes me feel Christmassy and going through some of these on youtube did the trick.

In grade school I was in the Glee Club, as the official piano player. Now, mind you, this is only because the nun, who was in charge of it, begged me to join them as she had nobody else who could play the piano - at least anything beyond chopsticks. Performing is not my thing. It was only during this stint that I have ever performed publicly.

My biggest public performance was when our little Glee Club sang Christmas carols in the lobby of the Adolphus Hotel in downtown Dallas. I was supposed to only play the piano, not sing, but I always did anyway. Well - I had and still have a very good singing voice. If I had to do that today I'd probably have to first put a few shots of vodka in me.

Oh... that reminds me... there was another brief encounter with the public. And it was also at a swank hotel, and there was Scotch involved, and I eyed a beautiful grand piano sitting all alone, and I sauntered over to it, sat down... and before I knew it, was playing through my repertoire of Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, etal, for what, to my surprise, appeared to be a very appreciative crowd. I had to have been rather inebriated to do that and just plain out of my mind. My companion was agog as he had no idea that I even played the piano at all. Yes, it was a night to remember, even if it is a bit fuzzy... In conclusion, it appears that I would have to turn into a raging alcoholic to become any kind of performer.

Anyway, here's a beautiful one, sung by one of the beautiful voices of times past. It just occurred to me - how many glorious voices we will never have a chance to hear because the technology did not exist to record them for posterity.

I loved singing this one at Mass. It has a certain Gregorian chant, mystic harmonic to it. The visuals in this video are pretty nice too.




Here's wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas.

Update: WaterBoy mentioned Tchaikovsky and it got me thinking about the traditional holiday ballet "The Nutcracker". I found an entertaining two-part video of this classic (about 9 minutes each) performed by the very talented Berliner Philharmoniker musicians with the great Seiji Ozawa conducting. Symphony conductors are kinda loony, but likeable characters. As you will see - Maestro Ozawa is no exception to this rule.

Without further adieu, I present a wonderful performance of Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky's enchanting The Nutcracker Suite. Civilization at its best.

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Suite (Part 1)


Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Suite (Part 2)

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orlok ~

Johnny Mathis? Very Nice!

Dec 20, 2007 11:38

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orlok ~

Wait no, Nat King Cole ?Yea thats the ticket.

Dec 20, 2007 11:40

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orlok ~

Thanks for the nice tunes and good to see you back up. Nice to hear a good thing about alchohol occasionally. The nuns would be aghast I'm sure. Heh

Dec 20, 2007 11:48

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AJW308 ~

it appears that I would have to turn into a raging alcoholic to become any kind of performer.

Maybe you've just explained rockstars and their behavior...

Glad to see that you are doing good and enjoying the season of our Lords birth.

Thanks for sharing the music with us.

Dec 20, 2007 17:41

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WaterBoy ~

Taylor: "...and there was Scotch involved...and I...was playing...for what...appeared to be a very appreciative crowd."

It's a good thing for them, then, that you chose Scotch.

With bourbon, you'd probably be banging out some ragtime tune; with tequila, a saucy salsa beat. Both of which are totally inappropriate for a swank hotel. ;)

About the only other thing that would have worked is vodka and Tchaikovsky.

Merry Christmas, Taylor. Nice to see you back.

Dec 20, 2007 19:52

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Taylor ~

Yes, it's Nat King Cole. There are several videos of his Christmas songs - you can see them along the bottom of that embedded video.

The nuns would be aghast I'm sure. Heh

You evidently are unfamiliar with nuns. The female students used to be selected (it was considered a privilege and kinda neat) to go to the convent every day and set up the nun's lunch or dinner table, and there was always wine. They had quite a stock of it. Nobody was ever around, so we'd check out the place. They really do have tiny, bare bedrooms.

Dec 20, 2007 21:24

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Taylor ~

Glad to see that you are doing good and enjoying the season of our Lords birth.

Well, that's kind of a stretch, AJW, but I can fake it pretty good for a short time at least. Regardless of my current situation, it is Christmas and a time for good thoughts. And listening to these Christmas songs always help me chill out.

Dec 20, 2007 21:36

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Taylor ~

With bourbon, you'd probably be banging out some ragtime tune; with tequila, a saucy salsa beat. Both of which are totally inappropriate for a swank hotel.

Good point, WaterBoy. but I don't know how to play anything but classical pieces. With sufficient amounts of those "inferior" spirits there's no telling what I'd be up to... This is why I stick to Scotch or vodka (I do play some Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov pieces).

Speaking of Tchaikovsky, you just reminded me that this is the season for his Nutcracker ballet. It's a wonderful tradition that I've enjoyed many times. I completely forgot about that.

Dec 20, 2007 22:05

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WaterBoy ~

Nutcracker, nutcracker, crack me a nut
Pound me an almond, cut me a walnut
Nutcracker, nutcracker, look through your bag,
And crack me the perfect nut.

Nutcracker, nutcracker, I'll bring the shell.
You bring the teeth, shiny and swell.
Bring me the flesh, for I'm longing to eat
That tasty brown pecan meat.

Dec 21, 2007 11:02

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Taylor ~

Very cute. I've never heard that one. Is that an original WaterBoy creation?

That tasty brown pecan meat.

Oh, it is tasty. But, to be nit-picky, the meat is white, it's the thin outer skin that's brown. That's true of most nuts, I suppose. Not cashews or macadamias.

My aunt has 200 pecan trees on her property. I have helped gather up hundreds of pounds of pecans - your hands get all black from that outer husk they have.

Dec 21, 2007 19:10

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WaterBoy ~

Not original, I just altered the opening lines of Matchmaker, from Fiddler on the Roof. Similar fitting words like these can rouse my generally comatose creative side. Sometimes Scotch works, as well. ;)

You are correct about the meat, of course; I was thinking of their appearance just out of the shell, as it would come out from the nutcracker.

That's a lot of pecans to shell, or does she sell them whole? I've read that pecan shells are good for making fireplace logs which burn cleaner with less creosote buildup, but I have no idea how one would go about turning the shells into such a thing.

Dec 21, 2007 20:27

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Taylor ~

I thought that pattern sounded familiar. Well done, WaterBoy. You seem to have knack for that kind of substitution.

That's a lot of pecans to shell, or does she sell them whole?

She sells them whole. We will shell some for us and that is a lot of work.

I get big boxes of pecans. I used to regularly bring a box full to the lab for our group working on the project. They're excellent munchy food while cranking out software. Cracking those shells is a nice way to vent frustration too - when things aren't going right. We'd go through that box in no time. The janitors must have hated it though...

I've read that pecan shells are good for making fireplace logs which burn cleaner with less creosote buildup, but I have no idea how one would go about turning the shells into such a thing.

You know, I always thought it was a shame to waste those shells and figured they'd make excellent burning material. I will save them and use them when I'm starting a barbeque fire.

To make logs I guess you'd have to smash them up a bit and then compress them, mixed up with some kind of binding material - a sticky something. What's cheap, sticky and not toxic when it burns?

Dec 21, 2007 20:56

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WaterBoy ~

I think it was this article that I remembered. They were doing a project here in Colorado.

They use recycled newspapers too, probably as the binding material.

Dec 22, 2007 19:44

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EN ~

Very Nice Taylor. Good to see you post again. I love scotch, although I rarely drink it these days.

Dec 23, 2007 07:33

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Taylor ~

Hey, EN. I've been around more than you! EN sightings have been quite rare for a while now. Hope you're doing fine and are enjoying this Christmas season.

Dec 23, 2007 20:20

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EN ~

Life is good. I've been traveling (spent two glorious months in Italy and a couple of weeks in London), and generally keeping myself busy as hell. Christmas shopping is done, wrapped, and organized. Truck is packed and tomorrow it all begins. Hope your Christmas is everything you could hope for

Dec 24, 2007 03:06

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Taylor ~

That's great, EN. Glad to hear you're keeping yourself busy and enjoying life.

Dec 24, 2007 03:28

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Jamie R ~

Merry Christmas, Taylor.

I played the Nutcracker Suite with no headphones today, loudly, so it could fill the summertime Christmas air. Aren't I a good boy.

Dec 25, 2007 09:05

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Taylor ~

Yes, you are a good boy, K-Bear. No lumps of coal for you this year.

Merry Christmas to you, too.

Dec 25, 2007 09:53

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Erik ~

Ripe pecans may turn your hands black, but unripe pecans used in impromptu outdoor food-fights stain everything a nice yellow. And there is no getting that stuff off, even from your hands! Those trees are so much fun.

Waterboy, you can also buy logs made from coffee grinds, they are also cleaner and a great way to recycle all the leftovers from our coffee culture. they also add a bit of wax to (all) logs to make them stick together as well as a source of fuel.

Dec 25, 2007 11:46

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EN ~

BTW, asked for, and received, a Romertopf 111 for Christmas on your recommendation. used it tonight to cook a roast and vegies. Worked great, Thanks

Dec 26, 2007 08:18

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Taylor ~

but unripe pecans used in impromptu outdoor food-fights stain everything a nice yellow

I shall have test this claim next year...

Dec 27, 2007 04:37

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Taylor ~

EN, that's pretty neat that you'd get a Romertopf because of my little post. I had no idea that I had any salesmanship in me whatsoever. Perhaps I missed my calling in life... "Romertopf, for the man who has everything.....except a wife" :)

I'm glad you were a good boy and Santa got you one.

Dec 27, 2007 05:09

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EN ~

Don't need no woman to cook for me. They mostly do it poorly and who wants to listen to the whining. And yes, I was "very good" this year and someone other than Santa got it for me. Cooked a chicken with it last night. Very good.

Dec 28, 2007 02:44

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Taylor ~

:) I had a feeling that would elicit a response... This is called marketing. That line would bore a hole in most people's brains and they'd not forget the product!

Just teasing. I haven't the first clue about marketing. I'm just blabbing.

Now, about this "They mostly do it poorly and who wants to listen to the whining."

I just finished eating corned beef, cabbage, carrots and new potatoes - with mustard. The meat was falling apart. Oh, it was good. Not fancy, but it sure hit the spot. And I didn't whine even once when I cooked it up! OK, I let out one little shriek when the water boiled over and dirtied up my spotless stainless steel cooktop...

Dec 28, 2007 03:55

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EN ~

You are the exception to the cooking poorly and whining portion of my post. I did say "mostly".

Dec 30, 2007 00:43

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Taylor ~

I have rarely sat atop the bell curve.

Hey, I just turned on the game. Giants are winning 7-3. Oh, wouldn't that be something if they upset the Pats. This is a dilemma for them, isn't it? The Pats want to finish with a perfect season, but they don't want to take the chance of getting hurt... Oops, Moss just got shaken up a bit. This could be very interesting.

Dec 30, 2007 01:53

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Taylor ~

Back to the subject of burning materials. Today, I was bagging up mountains of dead, dry and very burnable leaves. I started thinking... It couldn't be very hard to compress these into logs, no? That's a LOT of organic and very burnable matter that falls off the trees.

Just a thought. Wanted to put it down before I completely forgot about it. I'm such a airhead these days.

Jan 01, 2008 06:08

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WaterBoy ~

You would need something to bond them together, and various types of wax are what the commercial log-producers use with the ground up wood chips. I imagine it would work with dead leaves, too. Though I do wonder about the amount of particulate matter they would produce...

But I also read that waxy residue eventually builds up the same way creosote does from burning wood logs (even in "clean-burning" logs), and can be harder to remove.

And if you really want to go the recycled material route, you'll want to burn your coffee grounds.

Jan 03, 2008 19:30

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WaterBoy ~

I should add that we compost both our dead leaves and our coffee grounds, but we really don't produce that much of either to make burning them an attractive option.

Jan 03, 2008 19:32

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