My Christmas Song "List" 2018

Here now another inspiration for unusual songs for Christmas:

Elvis Presley, Martina McBride - Blue Christmas:
Elvis with a song he wrote himself, as he says.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KK6sMo8NBY

Barbara Streisand - Jingle Bells:
An unusually fast version of this well known song, probably not for everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Nq0CuUKTjc

Destiny's Child - 8 Days Of Christmas:
Not every Christmas song has to be contemplative and slow, as Destiny's Child shows us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikOWQ9YIb-A

The Jackson 5 - I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus:
What are we to think of a boy singing about seeing Mommy kissing someone other than Daddy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PITCmngiMfA

Brenda Lee - It's A Marshmallow World:
Is on my list for the crazy title.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm-k54HTWgI

The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick:
This song, too, is Christmassy, but with more upbeat than so many others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_3HLtW8mCw

The Kinks - Father Christmas:
This song probably spoke to many poorer kids (Father Christmas, give us some money/Don't mess around with those silly toys).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-oVPVsCqs4

The Rolling Stones - Winter:
Probably a lot of female fans wish to be the woman Mick is singing about: "Sometimes I wanna wrap my coat around you." Don't know what my mother thought of that song. She was a fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frt_f0eP_Hs

Here is My Christmas Song "List" 2013

Again... why me?

I was shopping today and shortly behind the cash stand there was something round with a cross on the floor. For a moment I was thinking of picking it up and handing it to the checker, but put it in my jacket pocket instead. On the way home I only had one thought:

"Why? Why?! WHY?! Why do I find something like this again?"

I don't even know where this is from or what for. Does anyone know? Write it to me in the comments.

I'm sorry for the bad quality of the picture. The shot was taken with my mobile phone.

Again something religious at a religious time. Just like around Easter with the statue and pendant. Crazy times.

Headless Christmas!

Dear reader,

all right, I know that Christmas is at a bad time this year. For us at least, you can go shopping up until 2 p.m. on the 24^th though. Friday and Saturday then are Christmas Day and Boxing Day and the next “normal” day is stupidly a Sunday. Which, in my humble opinion, doesn't explain or justify the panic buying, some certain people are currently doing. While I was standing in line at the cash register for lettuce for my guinea pigs, I overheard the female cashier at the cash register next to me, tell a buyer that they are actually out of some stuff even at the headquarters, because certain things were bought so often. While some people were speaking of shopping “like for a war time”, others were talking of shopping like for a nuclear blast that was ahead. In any case totally insane. Yes, there are some holidays and most people probably have visitors coming over and are cooking a couple of courses, rather than the usual single meal plus maybe a small starter and/or dessert. And yet...

On the way back from shopping I came past a house where a group of people were going back and forth between the car and the house entrance. In the hallway I could see four six-packs of water. After I told that to a friend of mine, he suggested, I should have asked what they need all that water for. Even if one partied three days straight with 30 people, I could hardly imagine them drinking all that water up.
 

By the way: a Christmas hat I searched for on the 24^th for in about six or so shops, including toy shops and as well as variety stores, turned out to be utterly unsuccessful. Christmas hats were of course sold out.

May we all survive the long four days without possibility of shopping head of us! Merry headless Christmas to you all! ;-)

What kind of shopping experiences before Christmas or on Boxing day did you have this year?

Until next blog,

sarah

The mysterious small package

Dear reader,

the other day I watched an episode of "Sherlock" again in which Sherlock Holmes gets a small envelope. "We've X-rayed it. It's not booby-trapped", explains Inspector Lestrade. "How reassuring", comments Sherlock Holmes dry and takes the envelope.

That reminded me again of an experience shortly before Christmas. I was at my dad's and had just brought him the post from the mail box up to the kitchen. Among them he had received a small package. I was curious and asked, if I should open it. "No, better let me do it", he said and suddenly seemed very insecure. He didn't have a clue who had sent him the package. He didn't know the sender at all and even more important than the sender: what was in the small package?

My dad went to the knifes and took one. That way I was standing across from him at the other end of the table and I gave the package to him. Carefully he opened it with the knife, took out mostly newspaper and finally then... a couple of small sort of sticks out of dark wood.

Now I was the one looking insecure and stupid. I had to ask him what those sticks were. Small spoons for jam for example, he explained to me. I asked him, what he had expected to find in that package really, because he had been so insecure. "A bomb?", I asked him. But apparently at that moment then, that had actually been on his mind. Whatever the reason for sending him a bomb might have been. I remember thinking: even if it had been a bomb, whether I had opened it or not, most likely I would have been hurt either way, since we had been standing together quite close, even with the table between us.

That was the mysterious small package before Christmas. Suffice to say that my dad is still not quite used to getting small or larger packages from strangers. Until recently my mom had done stuff like that and my dad usually only buys from amazon mainly, which is known to everyone.

Until next blog,
sarah

M&M: How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Dear Reader,

my mother didn't like the actor Jim Carrey much. He was grimassing too much for her liking. But one day our half american friends once borrowed us their only english dvd of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. Jim Carrey is hidden behind a hairy green mask in that one. My mother understood english well, but it wasn't quite good enough for the details of the film. She borrowed the german dvd from the library a couple of days later. The story was compelling enough for her and Jim Carrey hidden enough, that she found it well worth watching a second time.

But what's the story about anyway? The film from the year 2000 tells the christmassy story, based on a story by Dr. Seuss. In english speaking areas Dr. Seuss is well known for writing stories for children in rhymes. As already in Nightmare Before Christmas, this story too is about an unhappy outsider. Though with the Grinch we've got someone who hates christmas as much as one can hate a celebration. He lives up north from Whoville, a small town, in which all inhabitants just love christmas like no other celebration. Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsn) is the young daughter of the post officer Lou Lou Who (Bill Irwin). She is a bright, curious girl and when she finds out that the Grinch never sends, nor gets post, she goes to find out why. It's because of her insistence, too, that during the party before christmas, the Grinch should be the cheermeister of the party. Because the book says, “The cheermeister is the one who deserves a back slap or a toast. And it goes to the soul at Christmas who needs it most.” Not that the Grinch would agree, that he needed christmas the most... But Cindy Lou goes to him up on the mountain and invites him. The Grinch thinks hard back and forth and eventually goes. Gritting his teeth, he makes it through all the festivities.


And then... then comes the night. The Grinch is up on his mountain and sees how Santa Claus with his sleigh and reindeers is bringing the presents to everyone. So he sets out and makes himself a christmas costume and his loyal dog Max is converted to a reindeer for the sleigh. Then the Grinch sneaks down to the town and steals all the presents to destroy them in the dump. When he gets to Cindy Lou's house, she's just awake, too. He hides behind the christmas tree, which he was just about to steal. When she asks him what christmas is really about, he simply tells her, “Vengeance!” only to correct himself quickly with, “I mean... presents... I suppose.”

In the early hours the first couple of people realise that the presents are gone. But the inhabitants of Whoville are flexible and find that christmas isn't really about presents anyway, but being with your beloved family. So they sing and are happy after all. The Grinch hears that and realises for the first time, that he, too, can change. What that change looks like and what the Grinch does with that, you'll have to find out for yourself. I also won't tell you, why the Grinch is living so alone on the mountain in the first place. That's a story you'll have to find out together with Cindy Lou.

By the way Jim Carrey's mask was really good According to a trivia entry on imdb.com to that movie, the latex skin was so confining and uncomfortable for him, that he needed counselling from Navy SEAL who taught him torture-resistance techniques.

It's interesting how in certain kind of movies, the bad guys come across as very sympathetic somehow. The Grinch is one of those. With his deep seated hate, he is certainly entertaining and is different from the often only cheesy christmas stories.

Until next blog,

sarah

My Christmas Song "List" 2013

Dear reader,

the "usual" christmas songs are fine for a while for me. I prefer unusual. Here are a couple of songs, which I have and listen to, which are christmassy:

"Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over" by Jack White

I heard it for the first time in the film respectively soundtrack of "Cold Mountain". An upbeat, happy melody, something different from the more usual slow songs. The song tells the story of a group, who will join the band when christmas time will soon be over.

(The video link has the Royal Albatross. Sadly I couldn't find any other video or audio with Jack White, some youtube links are blocked for germany due to some copyright/rights regulations.... sorry about that):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPoJE92yvvM

"Christmas In Hollis" by Run DMC

I learned about this song watching the film "Die Hard". Bruce Willis is in a limousine and is driven from the airport to the building where his wife is having a christmas party with her company, to which he is also invited. He complains that this isn't a christmas song and it does sound more like rap, far away from what we'd associate with sounds and music for christmas. But as the driver points out to Bruce Willis, "This is christmas music!" The text tells the story of someone, who goes for a walk in a park on christmas and seems to see someone with a dog. The dog happens to be a reindeer and it's very sick and the man next to it isn't just somebody, but santa claus.

Here's the music video to the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR07r0ZMFb8

"The Stowaway" by Murray Gold/performed by Yamit Mamo

"Doctor Who" fans may know this song from the 10th Doctor (David Tennant). You can find it on the soundtrack to the 3rd series. I like it, because it's a happy, dynamic melody. Although the song is a bit sad. The singer tells about a "stowaway" on his ship. Which applies quite well to the Doctor in the episode "Voyage of The Damned", in which this song is played. In this christmas episode he's on the Titanic. The stowaway of the song desperately wants to be with his love on christmas day.

You can listen to the song on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoXF6H_venI

"Christmas Hell" (variaton of "Jingle Bells") by Danny Elfman

Not really a song in a real sense, more a short promo by Danny Elfman, the composer of the music of "Nightmare Before Christmas" with his very own version of "Jingle Bells". More on "Nightmare Before Christmas" later (later as in "in a new blog post", linked to it, now that it's done)... I thought I'll add it here, even though it's not a proper song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcgtOkj9ubU

"White Wine In The Sun" by Tim Minchin

A christmas song? Or more a song for and to his little daughter? Or both? I like Tim Minchin, as you may have guessed from previous entries and I like this song. He's australian and in australia there's no snow on christmas, of course. White is only the wine for him.

In the video he's singing this as an encore, I think during his tour "Ready For This":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iwfLN4K1hA

Do you have christmas songs you like to listen to? If so which ones?

Until next blog,
sarah