White (ish) Christmas

Here it is, my Christmas miracle:




That's right, it's snow! In Portland! On Christmas Day! Thanks, Santa.

I'm a bit late, but I wanted to post my top 10 non-traditional Christmas/holiday songs (random order):

1. Christians and Pagans by Dar Williams

2. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by Gayla Peevey

3. 25th December by Everything but the Girl

4. Christmas Song by Dave Matthews Band

5. Christmas Dragnet by Stan Freburg and Daws Butler

6. The Peace Carol by John Denver and the Muppets

7. Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon

8. River by Joni Mitchell (lots of other fab version of this song, including Indigo Girls and Sarah McLachlan)

9. Christmastime (Oh Yeah) by Barenaked Ladies

10. Song for a Winter's Night by Sarah McLachlan

11. Donna & Blitzen by Badly Drawn Boy

Okay, so it's a top 11. I was just listening to the last song and it's pretty great, so I added it on a whim. Number two is cheesy and annoying, but it's about hippos, so there you go.

If you're looking for a whole album of festive fabulousness (maybe for next year?) might I recommend Christmas Caravan, Barenaked for the Holidays, Wintersong, and of course, A Charlie Brown Christmas.

I hope everybody has had/is having a super holiday season!

Beauty and Crime

Whew! It's been a busy summer. I just watched my baby brother get married (congrats, K & L!) and I am feeling very, very old.

It's been a good summer for music, though. I was able to attend two great shows: Crowded House and Toad the Wet Sprocket. Plus, I finally got my hands on Suzanne Vega's new album, Beauty and Crime. It's as fantastic as I hoped it would be.

You may remember Suzanne Vega from of the oft-remixed Tom's Diner (you can listen to a snippet of this and many of her other songs at her website). Her new album is slightly more pop-y and less folksy than I expected, but in the best possible way. My favorite song is the first one, Zephyr & I, followed closely by Edith Wharton's Figurines. I also just learned from Wiki that Vega has the same birthday (different year) and same degree (English Lit.) as me. Love her!

I'm also really enjoying The Underdog (as far as I can tell, the song has no connection to the crappy Jason Lee Underdog movie which I've expressed my disgust for previously) by Spoon. I just can't resist a band with a good horn section.


(And that, of course, is a runcible spoon)

Potpourri for $100

Hi. I haven't been motivated to put together an awesome, inspiring post in the last few days, but here are a few little tidbits, from my brain to you:

***Warning: contains spoilers from Harry Potter and also from The Simpsons Movie***

* So I saw The Simpsons movie this weekend and I liked it fine. I thought a few things were thrown in just for shock value (i.e. naked Bart, lots and lots of cursing, Otto smoking a bong), but on the whole the story was reasonably well-crafted and I laughed a lot. It also made me want to move to Alaska. What ever happened to Spider Pig, though? And why didn't Al Gore make a cameo?

* I read the Harry Potter book the day it came out and am now doing a second, more leisurely, re-read. I wasn't sure if I even liked the book at first, but I've concluded that I do. It wasn't perfect, but it was acceptable, and (for the most part) a fitting end to the series. Most of my predictions were dead wrong (as I predicted they would be!), and the book went an entirely different direction than I expected it to, but that was okay. The ending was too rushed, and I had really hoped Snape would get a glamourous, heroic death, but there you go. However, I didn't think the epilogue was successful, even though Rowling said in interviews that it was left intentionally vague.

* In case you were wondering if it's possible to cut a big chunk out of your index finger with a butter knife, it is. Don't try it at home.

* I'm increasingly distressed by the previews of Underdog I keep seeing. I typically enjoy Jason Lee, but he may have just gotten on my bad list (see also the ill-advised Alvin and the Chipmunks movie). This is what underdog is supposed to look like:


Why oh why do film-makers insist on making animated, cartoon-length shows into full-length, live-action movies? No good can come of it.

* I had the strangest dream that I was competing on the Bravo Reality show Top Chef. The challenge was to create some kind fabulous salad, and all I could think of was a chicken salad, with packaged lettuce and pre-cooked chicken. And truffles, because if I have learned anything from watching Iron Chef, it's that using truffles guarantees victory. The show was being filmed in Manhattan (though I've never actually been there) and I had to keep running up and down a very hill-y street to a grocery store to pick up ingredients I'd forgotten. I woke up before the judging, but I have no doubt that I lost horribly and was thoroughly mocked and browbeaten by the judging panel. It was one of those dreams that leaves you feeling anxious and distressed for the rest of the day, even thought you know it's not real. I mean, I like to cook things from time to time, but I'm not a chef by any stretch of the imagination. What's up with that, subconscious?

* In case you were wondering, that's a Jeopardy reference, up there in the title line. Specifically, a reference to the Weird Al song.

Love is a mix tape

First, the title of this post doesn't come from my own clever brain, rather, it is the title of an actual book by Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield. I haven't read it yet, but it comes highly recommended and I'm hoping to pick it up soon. The artwork at left comes from this book.

With the slow demise of cassettes, I have been contemplating the phenomenon of the mix tape in my own life and in our culture. I still remember the first mix tape I made for my husband, back in 1996. He was on vacation in Maryland, I was preparing to leave on a (separate) trip to Florida, and his birthday was approaching. We hadn't been dating long enough for me to send anything too expensive or too romantic, but I wanted him to know I was thinking of him. The perfect solution? A mix tape, of course! Between packing my suitcase and the arduous process of casette-to-casette recording, I stayed up all night making that tape. I mailed it the next morning, and I suppose the rest is history. He did marry me, after all.

While CD's and other new-fangled technologies make it easier than ever to create a personalized music mix for yourself or your friends, I can't help feeling that we're missing out somehow. Back in the day, a mix tape was the perfect gift, because the recipient understood the amount of thought and effort that went into its creation. Today, you spend a few minutes plugging the songs into your computer, hit the "burn" button, and you're done.

I guess what I'm really pondering here is nature of gifts. As children, we start out by making things with our own hands and anything we can stick glitter onto. As we get older and wealthier, we can afford to buy more elaborate and expensive gifts for our loved ones. But I can't help wondering if those pricy gifts, which take just minutes to select and purchase, are really a better representation of our affection than the time and energy invested in the creation of a mix tape, or even a macaroni necklace.

Fidelity

Apropos of nothing, I really like the song Fidelity by Regina Spektor. It's kind of pop-y, and I hear it on the radio five times an hour, but I love it anyway. She has a sensational voice, but I think it's the pizzicato violin (or what sounds to me like pizzicato violin; I'm no expert) that sucks me in. The video is fantastic too, starting out in black-and-white and ending with handfuls of colored pixie dust (watch it here). Plus, I dig her black-and-white heels.

Oddly, even now, years after the New Kids on the Block debacle, I still feel somehow embarassed when I find myself liking a song that gets heavy radio play. Am I secretly a music snob? Why do I feel like I should have to work harder to find music I like?

"I have lost to February"

February always seems to arrive just at the point when I can't take any more winter. Regardless of what the groundhog sees, February always teases me with some lovely, spring-like weather: just enough so I get excited about unpacking my sandals and summer clothes. Then February laughs and turns back into winter. Curse you, February!

I'm trying to make this blog more about my own thoughts and less about linking to other people, but often I find that someone else has said what I'm trying to say so perfectly that it would be a loss not to mention it. Today, I am thinking about a haunting Dar Williams song about two lovers whose relationship can't withstand the winter. It's called, appropriately, February:

And February was so long that it lasted into March
And found us walking a path alone together.
You stopped and pointed and you said, "That's a crocus,"
And I said, "What's a crocus?" and you said, "It's a flower,"
And I tried to remember, but I said, "What's a flower?"

On a day like today, when it is so gray and cold and it feels like it will never stop raining, it's hard to remember the meaning behind words like "spring" and "sunshine" and "joy."


(Melancholy by Edvard Munch)

Hallelujah!

from dictionary.com:

hal·le·lu·jah /ˌhæləˈluyə/ [hal-uh-loo-yuh]

1. Praise ye the Lord!
2. an exclamation of “hallelujah!”
3. a shout of joy, praise, or gratitude.
4. a musical composition wholly or principally based upon the word “hallelujah.”

Also, hal·le·lu·iah.

[Origin: 1525–35; < Heb halălūyāh praise ye Yahweh; cf. alleluia]

Hallelujah is a word you can't say without singing. I know the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah has been done to death, but I really think Handel was on to something. According to the Bible, this is THE WORD (or at least, a translation of that word) the angels chose to announce their jubilation at the birth of Jesus. Whether you're Christian or not, you've got to admit, that's a powerful word. I can't think of any expression that better encapsulates a feeling of pure joy. In fact, I challenge you to say it and not be happy.

Actually, my challenge is masterfully met by that haunting Hallelujah song by Jeff Buckley (my sources tell me the song was originally written and performed by Leonard Cohen). You know, the one that has appeared in every movie, hospital drama, and "very special episode" of TV ever produced. Basically, in any scene where somebody is or might be dying. Love that song. After hearing it a million times, this line still makes me weepy:

"I've seen your flag on the marble arch
But love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah"

On a totally different note, the song You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon contains one of my favorite lines of poetry ever:

"He looks around and around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity.
And he says hey, Hallelujah!"

Love it. Wish I wrote it. Hallelujah, indeed.


(stained glass by Marc Chagall)