some men are baptists, some men are catholics; my father was an oldsmobile man

i will be over here for the next two months.

......

christmas is coming......

goodbye santa. you fine fine gentleman

it's over. not just the big day, but the wonderful season. no more christmas music, christmas movies, christmas specials or christmas shopping. good bye eggnog, advent calenders, bacon wrapped water chestnuts and christmas trees. good buy christmas pictures, videos and post. good buy christmas.

i had a fantastic christmas season and day, and I am happy it only comes once a year. it will always be my favorite time of year because of the memories i have made, and the memories i know will come. so on my last full day of christmas vacation, i send you my final christmas post of 2007 (although a few pictures & mentions may show up within the next few days). now i must find a way to get my 47 new dvd's back to california....seriously.

one more sleep!

have a fantastic and blessed christmas!

two more sleeps till christmas

my winter journey has brought me to my final christmas destination. with my wife, mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and two nephews, christmas finally feels official! i have physically seen the christmas tree, and the faint smell of reindeer is creeping through the floorboards.

jeg er vill etter snø

it's the final countdown

christmas is one week from today! enjoy another one of my favorite christmas clips.

another great television special

the perfect nog

sir percival let's me use his piano

although this bing crosby television special did not make my top five, i wanted to add this clip. it's one of my favorite versions of this song. to amazing crooners. bing died before this aired.



peace on earth. let it be.

my top five favorite favorite christmas television specials

there is no shortage of christmas specials for your viewing pleasure this month. many are mediocre, some are fantastic, and some would make you lose your holiday spirit for life....like the star wars holiday special from 1977:



but we are not here to speak of the bad. here is my top five favorite favorite christmas television specials!


5. Frosty the Snowman (1969)
jimmy durante narrates and sings this hand drawn classic. "happy birthday! hey, i said my first words. but... but snowmen can't talk. ha ha ha, come on now, what's the joke? could i really be alive?" it's pretty much the song acted out... well drawn out, with a not so hot magician added as some what of a villain. but nobody stays naughty at christmas time.


4. rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer (1964)
the first popular release from the rankin-bass team. narrated by the great burl ives who also sings the famous title song and silver & gold. fantastic characters like hermey the elf who would rather be a dentist, yukon cornelius the self-proclaimed "greatest prospector in the north", the abominable snowmonster (a.k.a., "Bumble"), and all the misfit toys. nothing says childhood christmas like claymation.


3. the bear who slept through christmas (1973)
you probably have never heard of this one. I have only actually seen it on television twice, but I own it the VHS (remember that unstoppable format). it stars tom smothers as ted edward bear...get it (ted e. bear), a sweet little bear who lives in Bearbank....get it? as we all know, bears hibernate during the winter. ted has always heard of this thing called christmas. he decides to stay awake this year and find out for himself what it's all about. I am surprised this special has never found a bigger audience. makes me sad.


2. a charlie brown christmas (1965) -
simple characters and simple drawings keep this classic so endearing. charlie's adimate frustration with the commercialization of christmas has always seamed funny to me because of his young age. the special celebrates everything great about christmas from the picking out of the tree, to the christmas pageant, to the most important part of christmas, the birth of christ. as mentioned in my top five favorite christmas albums post, the soundtrack is my favorite christmas album of all time. this special perfectly captures and celebrates the childlike spirit of christmas.


1. how the grinch stole christmas (1966) -
call it an obvious pick. i know it's probably the most famous of the five. i can't remember the first time I saw this special. I just remember always knowing about it. everything works so well. directed by chuck jones who is most famous for his work on the loony tunes shorts. you can see the similarity between some of his loony tunes from that period. especially from the roadrunner and coyote stuff. narrated and voiced by the iconic boris karloff, and the fantastically whimsical song lyrics and story by dr. seuss. it's a wonderfully redemptive story that always seems to stay relevant each year.

Well, put your arms down when you get to school.

Elf was the first time I had the chance to hear Zooey Deschanel sing. I was immediately drawn to her Cabaret style voice. Now her and M.Ward have made one of my favorite records of the year. I had the chance to see them a couple of weeks ago, and they did not disappoint. Let's take a look at this great scene from Elf!

der weihnachtsbaum

o tannenbaum, o tannenbaum,
wie grün sind deine blätter!
du grünst nicht nur zur sommerzeit,
nein auch im winter, wenn es schneit.
o tannenbaum, o tannenbaum,
wie grün sind deine blätter!

less than two weeks!

two week from today will be the saddest day of the year, but let's not focus on that right now. instead lets take a look at one of my favorite scenes from my favorite christmas movie. enjoy!

top five favorite christmas movies

this is the only time of the year that you might catch me watching the lifetime and hallmark channels. not because the movie are good, but because for some reason i am sucked in to their christmas lineup. i know they are really cheesy, but i have always been forgiving when it comes to christmas. the following are my favorite christmas movies. none here are cheesy (at least to me), and all are extremely re-watchable. especially number one! so without further hubbub, i give you my top five favorite christmas movies.

p.s.
i have left off television specials. that is for another post. hubbub over.

5. white christmas (1954) - this is a horrible movie to watch with me. i promise you that i can recite 95 percent of this movie. seriously. my grandmother introduced me to this one when i was very young and i may have seen it more than any other film (i used to watch it in the summer). bing crosby, danny kaye, rosemary clooney & vera-ellen are the perfect cast to dance and sing their way through this classic. directed by michael curtiz (casablanca), all songs
written by irving berlin, and the first film to be shot in vistavision = classic!



4. miracle on 34th street (1947) -
although the 1994 remake is a charming, it lacks the magic of the original. with edmund gwenn as what may be the greatest santa in movie history, miracle's strength lays in it's cast. the beautiful maureen o'hara and the soft and sweet natalie wood. it's very inspirational and still holds up today.



3. scrooge (1951) (a.k.a. a christmas carol) -
there are many versions of this story. most of them are great, but the best for my money is alastair sim as ebenezer scrooge. it's one of my favorite stories. timeless, scary, funny, and powerfully redemptive. it gives me hope that all those scrooges in our lives may one day see the light.



2. it's a wonderful life (1946) -
it's not only my second favorite christmas movie, but it's one of my favorite movies of all time. it's almost cliché now, but the story of how one person can affect the lives of so many others is awesome to me. capra and stewart are at the top of their craft here. it's on every year. we have all seen it, but it never loses it's power. the final scene never fails to bring a tear to my eye.




1. a christmas story (1983) -
One of the most re-watchable films i have seen, a christmas story is completely perfect. bob clark captures the 1940's so perfectly that i thought it was an old film (when i was young). the narration played against ralphie's facial expressions, darren mcgavin as the loving yet flawed father, randy and the zeppelin. everything works. nothing falls short. it's hilarious and sweet but never sappy. there is a reason it's played 24 hours straight every christmas!

the advent of a miracle

something full of wonder is on it's way.

yum

even though i love to cook and prepare an occasional extravagant plethora of extravagances, a simple treat should never be overlooked. here are two very delicious yet very quick and easy holiday drinks.

coffee nog:
get your favorite holiday mug. pour a thick eggnog into one third of the mug. now pour some coffee in there and you got yourself a nice creamy treat. if you have a cappuccino machine, you can froth up the nog to make it nice and velvety.

hot coco coffee:
finish up your coffee nog. rinse the mug. pour one package of instant hot chocolate. now pour some coffee in there and you got yourself a nice chocolaty treat (sounds familiar).

so there you go. extremely easy, but i guarantee that you will enjoy. unless you don't like coffee. or chocolate. or nog.

my five favorite christmas albums

5. the sinatra christmas album -
this is a strange choice for me for a few reasons. first of all there are four songs on this that i really don't like. secondly, this is not my favorite period in sinatra's career. that being said, this album has a few of my favorite arrangements and versions of christmas classics ever. have yourself a merry little christmas (which is my favorite christmas song) has never sounded better. this was also an album i remember listening to a lot growing up. lots of christmas memories here.

best part of the album: the song christmas memories. it's about....well....christmas memories. he sings about typical christmasey stuff like cookies baking, decorating the tree and so on and so forth. than he sings this line:
i close my eyes and see shining faces
of all the children who now have children of their own
funny, but comes december, and i remember every christmas i've known.

right now the computer is blurred out because I can't hear that line without the tears. It's a song about christmas memories, and i love christmas memories.

4. tony bennett - snowfall -
typical brassy sounding arrangements and tony's smooth as rhubarb pitch perfect vocals make this one my number four choice. the album starts with my favorite things... not mine...the song from sound of music. I have never really considered it a christmas song, but it really works.

best part of the album: snowfall. it's haunting. it's beautiful. it's magic. p.s. i have never held rhubarb in my hand, so that analogy might be worthless. sorry.

3. the beach boys - the beach boys' christmas album -
this was the last of three albums that the beach boys released in '64. little saint nick kicks off the album, and is the first of five original tracks. frosty the snowman is the first of seven songs not written by the boys, but i am instantly excited to hear that brian wilson is capable of making unique arrangements here just like most beach boys albums from this period.

best part of the album: we three kings of orient are is a song that i'm really not into, but the vocals are so powerful and beautiful here. is that a tear i see? i also really dig how whimsical santa claus is comin' to town sounds.

2. ella fitzgerald - ella wishes you a swinging christmas -
not only a great christmas album, i really believe this is one of ella's finest moments in her carrier (and i love this woman so very much). arranger frank devol (who composed music for dirty dozen, guess who's comming to dinner, and the brady bunch to name a few), gives us some really fresh and beautiful arrangements here. i have always considered mrs. fitzgerrald's voice as my favorite from the fairer sex, and on this album she is perfect.

best part of the album: at the end of jingle bells, ella belts out that she is wild about horses. aren't we all ella? aren't we all.

1. vince guaraldi trio - a charlie brown christmas -
nostalgia hits me in the ears from the very first note of "o tannenbaum". i am taken back to the 1980's where december evenings in detroit were spent watching television christmas classics. vince guaraldi has completely put his signature on the classic tunes, and wrote some wonderful songs of his own. i ask you to show me a finer jazz christmas album. show me.

best part of the album: the two versions of christmas time is here. one is instrumental the other with a choir. both wonderful.

christmas is here

it's the most wonderful time of the year for this guy. anyone who knows me knows i love christmas time. the day after halloween neighbors may be able to hear the vince guaraldi trio's christmas album wafting from underneath my front door. too early you say? not in my book. now, before you start accusing me of "raping the season" by commercializing every last detail, and before you send me a figurine of santa bowing down before baby jesus, let me say that i know the true spirit behind christmas. it is the most important thing to me by far. I will be speaking of that on another post. one important thing about me you must learn is that i think unimportant things are awesome. so shopping, eggnog, yule logs, lights, fat sweaty santas in small rural georgia towns and such things won't bring peace to your soul, but it has got to bring a smile to your face.