Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas For Your Special Someone

 

 

(h/t cat popper)

Songs Of The Week, 2024: 12/14-12/20

 

Pretty Pink Rose- Adrian Belew & David Bowie
Third Uncle- Brian Eno
Nothing Left- The Buzzcocks
Everything's Alright- The Aerovons
Luanda- Dub Specialist
My Love- Dion
The Sweetest Punch- Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach

zip

Enjoy.

Check out The Aerovons story, if you don't already know it.

BW's Saturday #48

 

Happy Holidaze, Part Three

 

 

CHRISTMAS HAIKU:
Did you get a tree
No, it's more like a large plant
But it still has balls 

 

For about four or five years, about ten or fifteen years ago, I tended bar with my friends Bobby and Dan at the annual Christmas party for The Nation. Man, those writers could drink! It was a fun gig for those years, but the one thing that has stayed with me from those parties was something the doorman in the building said.

As I waited in the lobby for Bobby, "Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms came piping through the sound system. I said to the doorman, "Man, you must have heard this 25 times today. How can you stand it?" He said, "Naw, baby. It's nice. It's only for a little while each year."

 

Here is your third and final playlist for this Holiday Season. I hope you dig it, if only for a little while each year.

TRACKLIST

Ring-A Ding-Ding- Frank Sinatra
The Wedding- David Bowie
Give Me A Second Chance For Christmas- The Candy Butchers
Feliz Navidad- The Fab Four
Such A Night- Elvis Presley
Forecast- Jeff Lynne
Here's That Rainy Day- The Modern Jazz Quartet
Cold Weather- Mark Johnson
Christmas In Suburbia- Martin Newell
Out In The Country- Three Dog Night
Silver Bells- The Supremes
I Want An Alien For Christmas- Fountains Of Wayne
So It Goes- Cheap Trick
Waltz For Debby- Allen Toussaint
The World We Live In- Mina
April 5th- Elvis Costello, Rosanne Cash & Kris Kristofferson
Donde Esta Santa Claus- Los Lobos
Home By Now- Aimee Mann
I Believe In Father Christmas- Greg Lake
I Dream Of Christmas- Anita Dobson & Brian May
Old Town- Phil Lynott
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)- Darlene Love
Fairytale Of New York- The Pogues & Kirty MacColl

zip

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Belated, Keef...

 

  

 

...From Susanna and Elvis.

And, as requested:

Happy Holidaze '24, Part Two

 

There's a scene early on in Cameron Crowe's modern day classic "Say Anything," where John Cusack and his sister Joan, playing brother and sister in the film, have a very brief but meaningful spat. Joan's character is whining and complaining about minor everyday irritations, and continues by taking some of her hostility out on her brother.  So he asks her, "How hard is it to get in a good mood?" He continues with, "I'm sorry Tim left you, but I am not Tim. You were hilarious once."

How hard is it to get in a good mood? With apologies to carolers all over the world, a good bouncy version of "Here We Come A-Wassailing" isn't enough. 

I was "hilarious once." Still am, actually. But not this week. No sir. I am not a funny guy during Christmas week.

Every year I see friends and family getting pushed to the edge while trying desperately to display what we've come to understand as necessary behavior for the Christmas holidays. They try to muster an acceptable attitude, when deep in their hearts, they'd like nothing more than to not be pressured or guilted into spending money, having to be somewhere, or suddenly having to sport a jawlocking grin because some Clydesdales are galloping through the snow. This Christmas, I'd love to see those who feel it, to feel it with all their hearts. And those that don't, to be given a free pass. Sometimes, you just don't feel it. It's not a crime, and no one should be made to feel that it is. 

So maybe you're thinking, "It's once a year, Ebenezer! Get into the spirit!" 

Fair enough, but what about the other 358 days of the year when most couldn't give a flying fugu about whether you've got the spirit, or if you've hit a rough patch? Where are those holly jolly elves in February and June? I swear on a stack of Trouser Press magazines, I was not born cynical.

I used to have some fantastic Christmases. Most were before I was 25 years old. Most were before I didn't have a care in the world. But as you get older, your responsibilities change. And so do your priorities. And so do your feelings. Christmas is really not the "most wonderful time of the year." It's the most unforgiving stretch of pressure and must-dos that inevitably make the broke broker and those already on the verge, break completely.

One year, when asked what I wanted for Christmas, I replied, "I don't care. It's not about that. Anything or nothing is fine." I won't reveal who asked me, but this was her reply, "What's wrong with you? Can't you make this easy for me?" To avoid a holiday smackdown, I simply said, "A new Yankees cap. That should be easy enough." Christmas Eve, I opened my box, and it was a Mets cap.  I couldn't help my reaction. I'm sure my face changed just a bit,  but I said, "Wow. This is great. Thank you."
"What's wrong," she asked, "you made a face."
"Well," I said, "this is a Mets cap."

"THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID!"

No, it wasn't. I came out of the womb in a Mickey Mantle jersey, and almost everyone who knows me, knows that. Almost.

Ultimately, I didn't care. I still have the Mets cap. It came from Billy Martin's Western Wear and has a snakeskin brim. I've never worn it, and it wasn't cheap. But it's the thought, right?

I can't be the one person on Earth who thinks that Christmas is the only time of the year when you can be surrounded by the greatest people and still feel lonely and miserable. And if I'm not the only one who feels this, I want to know why, and how do we change that.

How hard is it to get in a good mood?
Let's just say, I am doing my best.

Thanks for reading.

And now...your second holiday mix! Please enjoy. 

TRACKLIST

Joy To The World- The Fab Four
Everyday Will Be Like A Holiday- Reckless Sleepers
Time For The Sun To Rise- Earl King
You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To- Art Pepper
Christmas Time Is Here- Vince Guaraldi Trio
Candy Cane Lane- Sia
A Dream Goes On Forever- Fernando Perdomo
Driving Home For Christmas- Chris Rea
Charity Shop Window- A Girl Called Eddy
No Religion- Van Morrison
Sunset & the Mockingbird- Tommy Flanagan
Do You Hear What I Hear- Spiraling
Blackberry Winter- Keith Jarrett
Cloud Nine- Charlie Rich
Stella By Starlight- Ray Charles
Me & Magdalena- The Monkees
A Merry Jingle- The Greedies
Better Things- The Kinks
Merry Christmas Baby- Charles Brown
Old Fashioned Christmas- Duke Pearson

zip

Happy Birthday, James Booker