Jingle Hell
Posted on | December 13, 2007 at 11:00 pm | 4 Comments
Pet Peeve of the Day: Christmas music. Yeah, I’m a heartless old bastard when it comes to the holidays, and hearing the same old Christmas tunes everywhere I go during the holiday season doesn’t do much to melt this stony heart. However, I have come to appreciate Christmas music that is a bit out there on the fringe, mainly due to my friend Steve and his annual Xmas Mixes. Steve is currently working his way through the 30(?) Days of Hot Roxmas on his own blog. He does a great job of finding the obscure and listenable Xmas tunes and I always look forward to what he comes up with. I’ve downloaded his 2007 mix, iPod xMas, but have not had time to put it to CD and listen to it yet. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that by Christmas! Although there’s something to be said for listening to Christmas music after Christmas, when there’s not much as pressure to enjoy it.
My all-time favorite Christmas song is “Thanks For Christmas” by XTC (as the Three Wise Men). I’m always mystified, but gratified, when I hear it every year at my Safeway while I’m grocery shopping around the holidays. I’m still not sure how that happens. It’s a Safeway Standard! When it gets to the part in the chorus about “Thank you for the love and happiness that’s snowing down, all around”, I get little shivers inside me.
I also like “Green Christmas” by Barenaked Ladies a lot. And Nancy turned me on to their version of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” (recorded with Sarah McLachlan), which is also pretty cool. She was psyched when Steve put it on last year’s mix.
My favorite recent Christmas song is Jonathan Coulton’s “Chiron Beta Prime”. Love that analog synth solo! I think it’s Neil Gaiman’s favorite Christmas song too. [message redacted]
And who can forget Spinal Tap’s “Christmas With The Devil”? Silent Night, Violent Night. There’s no bells in hell.
I even have a soft spot in my head for that old standby, “Feliz Navidad”. It gets me moving! I wanna wish you a Merrrrrrry Christmas!
The latest Christmas classic, which no one will deny, is Monkey Typing Pool’s “1 2 Xmas U”. Well done, 2fs!
I wish I had time to go through Steve’s past mixes and pull out more of my favorites, but there’s Scroogen to be done!
Jogged Today: No, still icy.
Today’s Weight: 163.8 lbs
Lunch Yesterday: Buffalo Meatloaf at Club 404.
This is really weird. As I was writing this post, I heard someone on my porch. I went out to take a look and there was a box on the porch, and someone in an SUV parked out front in the street doing something on a computer screen. Keep in mind this is 10:40 at night. The box was unmarked and completely sealed. Adventurous soul that I am, I took the box inside and opened it. Inside was a Christmas gift I’d ordered for a relative from a website. ??? How did they know to deliver it to my house? I searched the outside of the box again and then finally noticed the FedEx address label. ??? Since when does FedEx deliver late at night, from a driver in an unmarked SUV? I was thinking maybe it was accidentally delivered to one of my neighbors by accident and they brought it over. But the way the driver was huddled over a computer screen made it look official. I dunno. Maybe FedEx goes to independent contractors for help during the busy holiday season.
Latre.
Comments
4 Responses to “Jingle Hell”
December 14th, 2007 @ 12:52 am
Did you report this to the Department of Homeland Security??
It’s probably just a FedEx contractor handling the overload (and the temporary logo stickers got lost by UPS… ) I guess all those Blackwater guys had to go SOMEwhere.
December 14th, 2007 @ 9:15 am
If it was one of ours, it should have included the “home version” water-boarding kit. Sincerely, your diligent protector of freedom.
December 15th, 2007 @ 7:37 pm
So what you’re saying is, you got a gift that basically fell off the back of a truck.
Also: why the Jonathan Coulton redaction? Did Coulton show up at your house and make faces at you and now you don’t like him any more?
And: you know, you really should have headlined this post, which centers on your love of that XTC Christmas song, with the title “Andy Partridge in a Pear Tree.” Because someone has to, and I haven’t figured out a good reason to, yet.
Finally: thanks for the mention & the link.
December 17th, 2007 @ 3:53 pm
Also: why the Jonathan Coulton redaction? Did Coulton show up at your house and make faces at you and now you don’t like him any more?
I didn’t redact that part of the message; some higher intelligence must be interfering.