The line waiting to see Santa stretched all the way back to Terra Hote!

today was the first time i have hit up the malls for shopping this year. like always, it was quite an adventure. fun at first, and as always, ready to get out after a few hours. anyway, i was reminded of some older posts about this very thing....

Get out the Sears catalogue. Put on your brown polyester pants suit, and head to the land of Burnt Orange and Gamboge. It's your local indoor shopping center circa 1970 whatever. I love me some Christmas music, and my newest obsession is 1960's/1970's Christmas Mall Music. It's not your typical mall muzak...well it really is, but it's Christmas songs. So I put together a little glimpse of Christmas shopping in days of yonder. Listen as the music seems to echo through the rafters of JCPenny.




Here is some more Christmas Mall music. My good friend Charlie sent this to me about the last mall video I posted:

I remember the malls and Lazarus department store in Columbus Ohio where I grew up, and they would play this music at Christmas time. Couldn't wait to get up to the 6th floor to see Santa but my mom would have to stop and look at drapes or something while on our way. Little Charlie would look up at her with big (woman, you can look at drapes anytime, can't you see this is important?) eyes.

There was a shot in that video of Santa and a helicopter. We used to go to the Northern Lights shopping center to wait for Santa to come in by chopper. They used to rope off a big parking lot and he'd land and get out with his sack of crappy trinkets but is was great because he came by helicopter. Great memories.

Thanks Chuck!



I am loving this stuff.

Mikey

Next to me in the blackness lay my oiled blue steel beauty.

look who i spotted around town today....

The Queen-Mother Of Dirty Words.....

Made it to Detroit & woke up realizing there is a winter wonderland outside my door. I have been behind on my posts, but now that I am officially on christmas vacation (and in such a place of winter wonder), it will be much more frequent. my friend grant over at grant's advent calendar shared this with me, and it is something really special! make sure you thank him by heading over to his site for a daily dose of christmas cheer!

let's get on with it! I don't need all this jazz about smugglers and pirates...

another one of my favorite things to do is listen to old time radio, and many are available for free download. of course there is a huge collection christmas episodes featuring Bob Hope, Fibber McGee and Molly, Bing Crosby, Abbott and Costello, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy and many more! gather the family, turn off the television, build a fire (if you have a fireplace) pour some christmas cheer and listen to these old time radio christmas specials.

CLICK HERE

Oh NO! It's.... OLD BLUE! OH NO!

no one likes a sad christmas...right? well, i sure don't (i know this from experince), but i do enjoy a bit of a melancholy feeling here and there around the season. it puts me in a reflecting mood. the song "Christmas Memories" has a line that says "funny, but comes December, and I remember every Christmas I've known." (here is the song and a review of that record).

there are plenty of joyous & fun-filled moments i love and always look forward to at christmas, but last night while house sitting for my dear friends who are moving far away and listening to christmas music surrounded by boxes piled to the ceiling, i felt a little sadness and began reflecting on my christmas memories. it's not a depression it's just a fond look back on past christmas seasons. i thought i would share this feeling in song with you. so, if you are making christmas cookies, sitting by the fireside, or sitting in an empty home surrounded by boxes, this mix is for you.

1. Evergreen - Jars Of Clay
2. Christmas Time Is Here - Starflyer 59
3. The First Noel - Red Letter Agent
4. Christmas Journey - Wayne Newton

It had to be firm, but subtle.

you know that old christmas story, elves & nazis....

Don't you feel remorse for what you have done? Well, that's all I'm going to say about poor Flick.

Leave me alone....I'm uh......thinking

in a previous post, we took a look at some classic christmas television specials....well, along with some not so special. i think it's time to take a gander at a few more this year. i really miss those fun television specials we used to have. now days it seem it's filled with boring teen popstars. geez...kids these days. anyway, presented here in five parts, here is A Muppet Family Christmas:

...dumb, frattin', housesnickle viper!

sometimes jews do christmas best (neil diamond, barbra streisand, jesus). now, i wouldn't go as far as to say Christmas Is In The Heart is the best christmas album, but it is some kind of wonderful. you may or may not know that mr. dylan has an interesting voice, and it's what makes this record so great. it's a joyous record that is at times tongue-in-cheek one moment and beautiful the next with a classic 1950's 1960's sound. the arrangements really are amazing but most importantly they are fun. fun is a must when it comes to christmas albums. yes i'll take the melancholy & reflective sounds of the season, but ya gotta give me some yuletide smiles from time to time.

the album starts off with the classic Here Comes Santa Claus. sleigh bells, banjos, jazz & slide guitar, and stupendous backing vocals give you a glimpse of what is to come. my favorite vocal performance is on Hark The Herald Angel Sing. think of your drunk uncle belting out the tune with all the passion he can muster. add a couple of fiddles and some really pretty female backing vocals, and you have christmas magic. O' Little Town Of Bethlehem, the album closer, has got some pretty amazing vocals on it as well.

the pinnacle of the record comes with Must Be Santa. it's an orgy of accordions, mandolins, drums on the backbeat, gang vocals and dylan naming past presidents in with all the reindeer. the video is absolutely fantastic. it fits the song so perfectly, and is mr. dylan in his pajamas? take a look and tell me i'm not wrong....



Christmas Is In The Heart is a new classic, and really will be in my christmas record rotation forever. get it. get it now.