I love this time of year. The changing colors in the trees with beautiful combinations of greens, reds, oranges and yellows. I love the change from hot to cold. Here in California, we unfortunately don't get much of a Autumn, but I definitely love what comes with the cold weather like blankets and scarves. I love time with my family and friends over dinner, board games or coffee. I enjoy setting up decorations around the house. But every Christmas season, one of the things I look forward to the most is wonderfully fun Christmas music. I'm not sure what it is, but I just love it.
With that said, here are my top 5 Christmas albums:
Number 5: If On A Winter's Night- Sting
This album isn't necessarily a "Christmas" album, but I'm classifying it as one anyway. The reason I say this is because Sting's lyrics are mostly about the season, Winter and not Christmas. The cd has a large variety of songs that you've never heard of; it's all new stuff. It's refreshing to hear something different.
Must Listens: Soul Cake (it's super catchy, but not in a bad way)
Number 4: Christmas Eve and Other Stories - Trans-Siberian Orchestra
First of all, I love orchestrated music. It's absolutely beautiful. Second, I love rock. Put them together and you get this wonderful music. And for the most part with Trans-Siberian's cds, they tend to tell a story. I picked this song mainly because one of my favorite Christmas songs ever is on it. The song Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 is a wonderful, timeless song. The music video for it adds so much more to the song which makes me love this song even more.
Must Listens: Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24
Number 3: Let it Snow - Michael Buble
In my completely biased opinion, this album is terrific. Michael Buble really has a way of capturing the classic songs and turning them modern without ruining them. He continues to do this with Christmas music. It's certainly enjoyable, then again, he can do no wrong.
Must Listens: Home for Christmas
Number 2: Have Yourself a Very KT Christmas - KT Tunstall
This is definitely the most fun Christmas cd I own. The only part I don't like about it is that it's just so short. She adds rock to some classics and in some songs she even uses a xylophone and kazoo. Her rendition of the Hawaiian Christmas tune, Mele Kalikimaka (Christmas in Hawaii) is phenomenal. This album is definitely unconventional.
Must Listens: Mele Kalikimaka (Christmas in Hawaii) and Fairytale of New York
Number 1: Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi
Every since I was a kid, I've been a Charlie Brown fan. And I absolutely love Vince Guaraldi. While listening to the radio, it's always so easy to pick out his music from the others. It's so wonderful! This album is just filled with so many classics.
Must Listens: Linus & Lucy
Now here's your job: Go out and buy all these albums then thank me for introducing you to some great stuff. Enjoy these tunes for the next few weeks! Merry Christmas!
P.S. I totally wrote this blog backwards with exception to the introduction.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
The Reality of History through Mad Men
After finding out what the show Mad Men was about just a few weeks ago, I knew I had to see it because it sounded just like the show I would enjoy because as you may already know, I'm pretty sure I was born during the wrong time. And sure enough, I do love it. I just finished the first episode of the first season and I'm disappointed it took me so long to watch this show.
I have a, let's say, interesting take on this show because in my 'women in history' class we are currently talking about women in the 1950s-60s. This show depicts exactly what we've been talking about these past few weeks. It's this idea that women are primarily put on this Earth to be wives and mothers.They supposedly find their ultimate happiness in serving others through household chores. They're more concerned with the latest floor wax than a new car.
Right away, you're made aware of how unhappy Don Draper's wife is. She says that she's happy with her life and happy with the way things are going, but it's clear that she's not. This is exactly what these women felt like. They were unhappy and unfulfilled by their roles of housewives. Of course, they keep it inside because if they said anything then they were said to have something wrong with them. Women are supposed to find their ultimate satisfaction in being married and having children.
After having a semi-argument with a client, he was told to reconcile with her, I believe her name was Rachel. This is a little how the conversation went:
After Rachel corrects him and tells him that she basically enjoys her work, he says...
“So that’s it, you won’t get married because you find business to be a thrill.”
It's just interesting to see this played out. It's such a different world than things are now. I feel like I'm watching this show as if I had read the book first. I'm just watching it with a different perspective because of everything I'm learning. The show is fun and definitely my kind of thing. I'm excited to see what happens on the show.
Reasons to love Mad Men
John Hamm: For two reasons, actually. One being he played a small part in Gilmore Girls. He played Peyton, a man Lorelai dated for a very short period. And if you're on Gilmore Girls, you automatically win in my book. And, he made this video with Michael Buble (another way to get on my good side) on Saturday Night Live.
Watch the video here. And Love.
Progressive's Flo: Yes, that's right. FLO. She has a cameo on it! Pure brilliance. She's an operator.
I have a, let's say, interesting take on this show because in my 'women in history' class we are currently talking about women in the 1950s-60s. This show depicts exactly what we've been talking about these past few weeks. It's this idea that women are primarily put on this Earth to be wives and mothers.They supposedly find their ultimate happiness in serving others through household chores. They're more concerned with the latest floor wax than a new car.
Right away, you're made aware of how unhappy Don Draper's wife is. She says that she's happy with her life and happy with the way things are going, but it's clear that she's not. This is exactly what these women felt like. They were unhappy and unfulfilled by their roles of housewives. Of course, they keep it inside because if they said anything then they were said to have something wrong with them. Women are supposed to find their ultimate satisfaction in being married and having children.
After having a semi-argument with a client, he was told to reconcile with her, I believe her name was Rachel. This is a little how the conversation went:
Draper:“Well, it’s just that you’re a beautiful, educated woman, don’t you think that getting married and having a family would make you happier than all the headaches that go along with fighting people like me?”
After Rachel corrects him and tells him that she basically enjoys her work, he says...
“So that’s it, you won’t get married because you find business to be a thrill.”
It's just interesting to see this played out. It's such a different world than things are now. I feel like I'm watching this show as if I had read the book first. I'm just watching it with a different perspective because of everything I'm learning. The show is fun and definitely my kind of thing. I'm excited to see what happens on the show.
Reasons to love Mad Men
John Hamm: For two reasons, actually. One being he played a small part in Gilmore Girls. He played Peyton, a man Lorelai dated for a very short period. And if you're on Gilmore Girls, you automatically win in my book. And, he made this video with Michael Buble (another way to get on my good side) on Saturday Night Live.
Watch the video here. And Love.
Progressive's Flo: Yes, that's right. FLO. She has a cameo on it! Pure brilliance. She's an operator.
Friday, November 5, 2010
For the love of music
 | ||
| Peanuts and records = my favorite |
These little round discs are becoming rapidly more unpopular as time goes on. It seems now that most people would rather use iTunes to download the latest album from their favorite artist.
As for me, I love the CD.
And more recently, in the last four or five years, I've begun to love vinyl records, and now I own probably over 100 albums. They're all kinds of wonderful.
I just love having something tangible. One of my favorite parts about buying a new CD is tearing through the plastic, taking off the sticker with artist's name and album title, (usually sticking it somewhere random) and then looking through the booklet inside. I love seeing the art, the lyrics and just anything else the band put together to create this CD.
As for vinyl, it's not so much that I buy new artist's records. I love looking for old vinyl, you know, when that's all there was. I thoroughly enjoy digging through piles upon piles of dusty records to see what I can find. Whether it's a record I find that I want to buy, or a record that just has an over-the-top crazy picture on the front, I love it all. Nothing compares to it.
As for me, I've always been "behind the times" when it comes to music. In the last year, I've just gotten a iPod. That was a gift too. I'm still convinced that the old classics (Beach Boys, Beatles, CCR, Frank Sinatra, the Kinks, the Who, Simon & Garfunkel, Huey Lewis & the News, etc) are the best music around. No beating it. And, I don't know. I don't ever think that I'll transition from my beloved CDs/vinyls to digital. Sorry, iTunes.
What do you think? Anyone else with me on this??
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