Don't put away the sleigh!

Tis delightfully Springtime all across America. Time for baseball and to pick up sticks so you can mow your lawn soon. Time for the kiddies to get out and play on the swing set! But wait. Three more feet (that's about a meter to you silly metric people) of snow in Colorado?! Actually in some places it was MORE than 3 feet! This global warming epidemic is scary, isn't it?

So in honor of the snowfall and the delightfully WINTER some places are currently experiencing, I thought it would be nice to stir up some cozy fireplace thoughts: chestnuts and garlands, wrapping Christmas presents, making Christmas cookies, all that warm and fuzzy stuff. Santa's on his way. Get to the mall. Go. Shop. What are you waiting for?!? Time is running out!!!!!!!

Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas (Verve, 1960)

Jingle Bells
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
Sleigh Ride
The Christmas Song
Good Morning Blues
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Winter Wonderland
Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Frosty The Snow Man
White Christmas

Wow. This is so good. Ella is definitely swinging and making these songs uniquely hers. Rudolph is a tune that's not a favorite of mine. It makes me think of 8 year olds singing it -- gag. I'm not a fan... but here it's really good. The same I think about Frosty. I like these versions. They're grown up, they've got an air of sophistication. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? isn't a true Christmas song, methinks; I've never given it much consideration in the past but Ella's version is beautiful! Her voice is AMAZING! A few of these songs are now contenders for my favorite versions ever, they're that good! I've not listened to much Christmas jazz but this will be in rotation every Christmas... if I was going to listen to Christmas music at Christmastime, that is. I don't. But maybe someday, right, Sugarmag?

Ella Wishes You A Swinging Christmas
320 kbps


mp3 download

Soon To Be Turkey & Mistletoe Time!

It's definitely right around the corner, isn't it? I can totally just about feel it in the air, can't you? Christmas is getting close!!! Turn on The Weather Channel and whaddya see? Snow, snow, snow, everywhere there's snow!!! It's that white stuff that falls from the sky, you make snowballs out of it to throw at cars and school buses. Snow forts. Snowmen. Sledding. Let it snow, baby! Okay, well, I guess all that snow's just up there in the hinterlands: North Dakota. They never really show Alaska on The Weather Channel but there's snow there, also. If you're dreaming of a White Easter, that's definitely the place to go.

Easter? Jelly beans!!! Christ. Christmas.

Hmmm... I wonder if Christ would approve of spending gazillions of dollars on pork and banks and car companies and other Congress & President-approved idiocy, all very much to the detriment of future generations. Kids right now, when they're older, won't be able to enjoy Christmas because they're getting the holy hell taxed out of them to pay for all that debt that's currently being run up. What a jip!

Ahhh well, depressed about the economy or flooding or blizzards or that even though the New York Mets will do good to great for the first five months of the season they'll still completely blow first place come September 1st? Just forget about all of that and listen to some good music! Yah? Yah!!! Pass the eggnog... extra nog, thanks. Merry Recessionmas!!!

Only 268 Shopping Days Left!!!

Have Yourself A Jazzy Little Christmas (Verve, 1989)

A Child Is Born - Oscar Peterson
Christmas Medley - The Swingle Sisters
(Carol Of The Bells, Melodies Of The Day, O Sanctissimo)
Jingle Bells - Jimmy Smith
The Secret Of Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald
We Free Kings - Roland Kirk
Christmas Eve - Billy Eckstine
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm - Billie Holiday
Ole Santa - Dinah Washington
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Bill Evans
White Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald
O Little Town Of Bethlehem - Sister Rosetta Tharpe
The Christmas Song - Mel Torme
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Jimmy Smith
Silent Night - Dinah Washington
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald


Have Yourself A Jazzy Little Christmas
320 kbps




mp3 download

Christmas Makes Me Puke

Had a nice hike yesterday... listened to some Phil Lesh & Friends but there was this, too (the music below.) Been way too long since I've posted a Christmas album. And now we're getting into the Christmas season. According to many retailers' commercials on television, WE'RE ALREADY IN THE CHRISTMAS SEASON. Morons. I love Hallmark and Hershey's, I go to Lowe's and Home Depot, but because they've been rollin' their Christmas commercials for about a week now (or more,) they don't deserve my business until January. It's no wonder I get sick of the season BEFORE Thanksgiving. Hmmm... maybe if I didn't watch TV, then I wouldn't see the commercials. Ahhh, yeah, well, it would still get to me somehow... radar waves maybe... oh: Wifi signals carrying subliminal messages saying: "Go buy Christmas crap now. What are you waiting for? Go. Make the Christmas season 3 whole months long. Why are you still sitting there? GO!" Dillholes. Screw Christmas.

But... can't screw Christmas music. Unfortunately, soon it'll be time to make sure I don't play any until about February or maybe late January. I just can't stomach the stuff, ironically, in the month of December! For about 10½ months of the year I like it just fine. I played a Sinatra Christmas album the other night -- some of the best Yuletide tunes I've evah hoid. Listening a month from now -- I'd want to vomit.

So, without further ado...

Thursday's Hiking Tunes, Part 2...

	Bill Engvall Here's Your Christmas Album 1999 (2005 Re-issue)
256 kbps Bill Engvall Here's Your Christmas Album

if you want, you can click to listen and/or dload @ 128 kbps
	Introduction
	I'm Getting Sued By Santa Claus
	Christmas In The Country Holiday
	Rudolph Got a DUI
	The Christmas Sign
	A Gift That She Don't Want
	Gift Emergency
	Fruitcake Makes Me Puke
	That's What's Wrong With Christmas
	Here's Your Sign Christmas
	The Bike
	Fruitcake Makes Me Puke (rock version)

I really had no freakin' clue what I was getting with this album. What it is is country music with introductions on each song by Bill Engvall. On most of the songs (or all of them?) he does a little stand-up over-the-top of the music. Who is singing is not him, though. One song sounds like Alan Jackson and another sounds like Billy Ray Cyrus and others still might sound very close to other popular Nashville country music recording artists... but it's not them, at least I don't think so. Nope, the singers are just people who sing who might happen to sound like someone famous. It ain't bad singin' and it ain't bad music, it's good country, albeit a little corny. Interestingly some of the songs hold a lot of truth to them... like how Christmas wants to start in September! It does, the retailers want it to, right alongside Halloween crap. Oi!

Anyway, I'm glad I got this. It's not the same old, same old, round and round again. Nope, this is kinda fun stuff and different. Definitely worth it!

Christmas is Right Around The Corner!

Is a lazy and completely unproductive day an okay day?
I used to not think so.

I was gonna go flying as I'd really like to get a few hours in every month... but I don't have my own plane and plans fell through. BEAUTIFUL weather today, it would have been incredible up there. Ahh well.

Watched some baseball on TV. That's relaxing.

Picked up and stacked the wood that I chopped the other day. Okay, so that counts as getting something done.

Took a nice stroll up the road with my dogger, about 20-30 minutes so he could stretch his legs more than normal. In the yard he's got plenty of room to walk around as he pleases... but it's the old familiar yard -- yawn, he says. So when he gets a chance to go elsewhere, to sniff other stuff where he doesn't often go, you can see that eager excitement light him up even more than usual. His old legs won't allow me to take him hiking with me anymore... he once was such an amazing hiking dog... but a kind of short stroll on the trail or up the road, half hour or less, he digs that just fine. Probably helps keep him young and seemingly healthy. That arthritis limits him but he's still got life left!

After that excursion, I napped... on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon I napped. Had to catch up on my Zzzzzz's. Had to. Woke up later and the day was gone... no it wasn't, I mean not with the light in the sky all night long!

With work tomorrow I was definitely not goin out indulging in adult beverages tonight so there was just one thing to do...

51°, 10:20 p.m., a little chilly but gorgeous!

Sunday Night Run: 20 minutes 53 seconds

+8 sec

XXXXXXXX+++++++++ ·02 sec· +++++++++XXXXXXXX

Run Time May: 4 hours 4 minutes April: 3 hours 51 minutes <-failed to pass March March: 3 hours 57 minutes

Splendid run. Just.... peachy.

And just barely short sleeve weather. We're clearly in Spring but it's not so warm yet. That's a good thing, no, a great thing as it means less energy gets sucked out of me by the heat in the air. With a lower temperature, more energy! (Love the way that works!)

From the moment I walked out my front door, BOOM I was ready to go. Still had to walk a couple minutes to the trail and stretch but probably I could have set out running but I take my time, stretching is a friend of mine

I knew tonight's outing would push me up over 4 hours. Like usual I just wanted to make sure all systems are operating okay and that I can achieve my set goal. During the run itself, that 4 hour mark for May hadn't crossed my mind. Now, showered, resting -- pretty sweet is what I'm thinkin. Pretty sweet! I ran a marathon this month! Well, it took me like a dozen separate runs but if you remove all the time in between each run, it should be a marathon! Nice.

Question is -- do I rest and not care if I only have one more run in May? Or keep it going? 6 more days left... we'll see.

Right now I'm satisfied and looking forward to an even better June!

Album of the day... only 7 more shopping months left!! December 25th's gonna be here in no time!!!

	Jerry Jeff Walker Christmas Gonzo Style 1994
320 kbps Jerry Jeff Walker Christmas Gonzo Style

Click the Play Button to enjoy a listen (192 kbps)
	I'll Be Home For Christmas
	I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas
	Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
	The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting...)
	Here Comes Santa Claus/Up On The Housetop
	Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
	Jingle Bells
	Walking In A Winter Wonderland
	Frosty The Snowman
	Jingle Bell Rock
	The Twelve Days Of Christmas
	We Wish You A Merry Christmas

There's something kind of odd about running to Christmas tunes, especially when it's not December. But I pulled it off today with this album.

Like so much that I've listened to over the past year and a half, I've never heard Jerry Jeff Walker before. I find it pretty interesting that he's a country music singer from where? Upstate (Oneonta) New York?! Okay. I wonder if that played into him not being successful when it comes to commercial radio-play. In a way, that makes his music more appealing to me.

I read that he's called what he does "cowjazz" and that's apparent here on a least a few of these songs. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is a perfect example. Country music? Not even close! Winter Wonderland is about the same -- it's got some pedal steel but tinged with jazzy piano. I'll Be Home For Christmas and Jingle Bells are in that territory as well.

Rudolph is not a song that can get me excited but there's an interesting take on it here. It's got kids. Kids and Christmas music? No big deal. Well, they're like 12 or 13 sounding maybe and they're not exactly singing... you've just got to hear it, it's funny, kinda like they're making fun of the song. Pretty cool.

White Christmas is nice. Lloyd Maines on pedal steel makes it oh so perfect. And The Christmas Song -- purely Christmas.

Not a very country sounding collection. A few songs feel like Texas but all the way through it doesn't make me wish for them Wide Open Spaces and horses at Christmastime. Still not a bad album.