81 Shopping Days Left. Go To The Mall Now!

Yes sir, another day when the temperature never got higher than about the upper 30's (around 3-4°C.) I love weather, particularly Fall days like this! Unfortunately I did not hike, did not run... but at least I'm not injured! Just a day off from the trail due to work and rest. Lookin' forward to gettin' back on the trail tomorrow. NEED MORE EXERCISE! I was dreading running again but now I'm dyin', dyin' I tell ya, to push my times back up. Will take some time to get up there, and a lot of time before I'm seriously contemplating the '09 London Marathon. A long time to train for that.

But in the meantime... it's always a good time for Christmas tunes! Some of these really brought me back. Growing up I'm sure I heard many of them many many times over. I could type all kinds of good memories but I'm so tired and need sleep so... on with the music!

Christmas With The Stars

[made in Holland. 1998/1999]

White Christmas - Bing Crosby
Jingle Bells - Rosemary Clooney
Silent Night - Mahalia Jackson
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Bing Crosby & Ella Fitzgerald
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Frank Sinatra
Please Come Home For Christmas - The Platters
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - The Drifters
Mrs. Santa Claus - Nat King Cole
Have Yourself A Merry Christmas - Rosemary Clooney
The First Noel - Pat Boone
Oh Come All Ye Faithful - Bing Crosby
The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
Silver Bells - Rosemary Clooney & Bing Crosby
Winter Wonderland - The Drifters
Suzy Snowflake - Rosemary Clooney
Blue Christmas - The Platters
Hark, The Herald Angels Sing - Mahalia Jackson

This is a mostly nice collection of songs. The CD's a cheapy release by no major U.S. label. I'm not sure why companies do this. Is this supposed to be better than the thousands of albums already available? The songs mostly work together... mostly. A few are really fun such as Bing & Ella on Rudolph, a song I don't usually care for but this one I like a lot! And this Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Rosemary Clooney is really nice, as well. A few are clearly from the 1980's, complete with electric drums and synthesizers while the rest is clearly from an era long gone by. Strip away three of the songs by The Drifters and The Platters and the collection as a whole sounds a whole lot better. It's not bad but I'll probably never listen to it again because ideally one day I'd get a better similar collection. Who knows, maybe I'll hang onto this and play it again and again. Hey, I can't tell the future but one thing's for certain -- Santa will know what I did!

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Christmas With The Stars

17: Stellar or Still Sucky?

I achieved another milestone on my run this evening. A sort of milestone -- up to (and a little past) 17 minutes. Is it even significant? In a way it is. A year ago I never imagined running for what to me is so long. But now in my not-that-serious quest to be able to run a marathon, 17 is still pretty lame. All I want is to be able to run exactly like this at least a few times a week in order to help maintain a healthy heart, etc. Within the long range scope of desiring to be able to finish a marathon in about 240 minutes, well, LOL HAHAHAHA I'm a wicked long way off so 17 isn't significant at all. Perhaps I'll just keep on adding on little by little and think about 20 being the next milestone...

75 minutes on the trail...

Running Time -- 17 minutes & 7 seconds (up 12)



Sammy Kershaw

Don't Go Near The Water (debut album from 1991)

Anywhere But Here
Every Third Monday
Don't Go Near The Water
What Am I Worth
I Buy Her Roses
Yard Sale
Real Old-Fashioned Broken Heart
Kickin' In
Cadillac Style
Harbor For A Lonely Heart
+
some Sammy Kershaw tunes for Christmas...
Up On The Housetop
Christmas Won't Be Christmas (Without You Here)
We Three Kings
Winter Wonderland
&
Billie Holiday -- Fine and Mellow [Jazz Lounge Remix]
One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) -- Sinatra
+
Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders -- I Second That Emotion

Sammy Kershaw's debut album is pretty good early 90's Nashville country. Cadillac Style, I believe, still has radio play today, maybe one of his biggest hits. But the music kinda stunk for running to at least in part due to the fact that I blindly chose -- or chose without first hearing -- songs to run to that were too slow for my pace. Around the halfway point I nearly pulled up 'cause I wasn't satisfied by what I was hearing; the tunes didn't give me enough to concentrate on to take my mind off the seemingly uselessness and boredom of jogging. Almost felt like I was crawling along and a fast-paced hike woulda been just as good plus a hundred times more enjoyable than running. But I pushed on and succeeded once again. I'll revisit Mr. Kershaw's music again someday but to run to, the best thing will be to choose faster paced songs ahead of time!

Almonds? Cashews? Peanuts!

I think I've forgotten what it feels like to wear my hiking boots! I've been so caught up in running that it feels like weeks since I've gone for a "hike." Of course, being on the trail for 93 minutes means I do a significant amount of hiking . . . but it's in my running shoes vs. lacing up my hiking boots for strictly a hike. Anyway, nice afternoon today. I didn't progress by my usual 20+ seconds 'cause I didn't have ready the playlist that I originally wanted to take. Still I went again a little bit longer, a little bit further. I'm in no rush.

time on the trail: about 93 minutes

running time -- 9 minutes, 47 seconds (+16 seconds this time)

listened to:

* from the album:
Marlo Thomas & Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year Long
(a benefit for the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital)

* Teeny Meany -- James Earl Jones & Marlo Thomas
* The Little Stuff -- Marlo Thomas
* (I'll Give) Anything But Up! -- Hilary Duff
* Unsung Heroes -- Wayne Brady

Body And Soul -- Billie Holiday
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas -- Frank Sinatra

Wynton Marsalis & Ellis Marsalis -- Joe Cool's Blues

Linus & Lucy
Buggy Ride
Peppermint Patty
On Peanuts Playground
Oh, Good Grief!
Wright Brothers Rag
Charlie Brown
Little Red-Haired Girl
Pebble Beach
Snoopy & Woodstock
Little Birdie
Why, Charlie Brown
Joe Cool's Blues (Snoopy's Return)
and finally
Russian Lullaby -- Jerry Garcia & David Grisman

With this outing I have reached my maximum limit (1) for Hilary Duff songs this decade. (It's actually not a bad song.) My run to Billie & Frank was nice and mellow followed by my first time ever hiking to jazz. Can't go wrong with Wynton Marsalis. Really good music. And once again Jerry to finish up.

I've got so many playlists for hiking ready, plus Dead shows. Maybe tomorrow . . . if I can break free from this temporary addiction for pushing my run times up.