2009 A Recap

or goodbye old friend. I'm going to miss you

Okay, so I've heard a number of people expressing their desire to slam the door on the backside of 2009. I can sympathize. There have been years where I've wanted to kick those particular 12 months square in the nuts with the pointiest of point shoes, torch the calendar and incinerate all thoughts and brain waves connected to the memories of said miserable time frame. I'm looking at you, 2001.

While I can empathize, I can't agree regarding this past year. Granted there have been some really shitty things that have occurred. Several family members and friends have battled some truly atrocious physical ailments, but thankfully they've all walked through that dark hallway to emerge in the light, healthier people for it. I've personally had a number of minor ups and downs for which I've had to adapt, but nothing really earth shaking. This year has actually been a pretty even balance between positive and negative.

2009 has proven to be rather historic. In January we witnessed the inauguration of our country's first black president. Once again a smart, elegant and congenial gentleman is leading our fair land. Through him the the world seems to be allowing us to take a mulligan for the prior eight hellish years. Now if only the Dems in Congress can grow a pair, stand up against the I-hate-everything-you-plan-to-do-but-have-no-viable-suggestions-to-repair-the-damage-my-party-has-flagrantly-done Republicans and do what's right for the country.

A girl can dream.

Then to top it off, both the Steelers and my boys of winter brought home the championship hardware!! Each succeeding in nail-biting, epic fashion--The Steelers with a last minute, incredible catch by Santonio Holmes and the Pens snatching the cup from the very team that shattered their souls the year before. Sweet, sweet redemption!!!

But by far, 2009 has been all about me.

My seven squared year on this blue planet has been a blessing and a blast! Not since 1989 have we had such a great run of musical entertainment.

It started back on Valentine's Day with a high-energy, hyperactive, throw-back concert by The English Beat. Dave Wakeling may be in his 50s, but DAMN he can still knock out the Ska beat.

A link to that post is here.

Then we traveled to lovely, downtown Teaneck, NJ for the first of many Rhett Miller solo shows. The venue was a little less intimate than desired. After sitting through the first three songs, I just had to run up to join the small crowd gathered around the stage and sing along. I cannot sit still when he performs and sadly for the people around me...I have to sing. Sorry. Rhett was a little rattled throughout parts of this particular show. Perhaps it was the venue...perhaps is was the fact he had just flown back from the coast and was flipping tired. But still he gave his all. He never disappoints, but then again you all know I think he is absolutely perfect.

This was the first time we got to meet our new Old 97's buddies, George and Maria. This is also when I taunted Mr. Miller, the forever Cowboys fan, by giving him a Steelers Championship shirt, resulting in him telling me I suck. That still makes me laugh.

A link to that post is here.

The next day held an evening with our other musical love, Francis Dunnery at a little coffee shop in lovely, downtown Phoenixville, PA near Valley Forge. We got to hang with him beforehand, sit in on the sound check and throw back a few cocktails afterwards with Tony our favorite merch guy. Another amazing evening with a fabulous storyteller and guitar master. Francis never disappoints either.

A link to that post is here.

We spent April Fool's Day with the hilarious David Sedaris. He is so entertaining! Dry, witty, slightly twisted...okay, more than slightly twisted. The only way to experience his writings is to hear it read in his own voice. We were in stitches the entire evening.

The merry month of May brought us a gift in the form of a Francis Dunnery house concert in a neighboring northern neighborhood. The location was the same as our first ever house concert. It was nice to see some familiar faces in the game room. He performed his Tall Blonde Helicopter Tour, which consists of Francis telling the story of his rise and fall as a music label's darling, coinciding with the end of his marriage as well as the end of his drinking witnessed through the songs of the album. It's always magical to spend an evening with this wonderful storyteller. The night went so swimmingly, Francis threw in a number of extra tunes.

That makes the score Francis: 2 Rhett: 1

A link to that post is here.

Then there came June. Aaaaaah, June!

Perhaps my favorite month of this entire year. The home of my ultimate Rhett/Old 97's fest. Four performances in seven days. It all started at Vintage Vinyl for an in-store performance by the one and only keeper of my fantasy heart, Rhett Miller. His new solo CD had just been released and he was doing tons of publicity in support of it. He teased us all with a sound check rift of Candy Apple Corkscrew Hair, then razz-ma-tazzed the small grouping with at least a dozen new and old tunes. You can hear Geo calling out a request in the video on my original post.

I was able to make amends for the Steelers shirt thang at the meet and greet by giving him a couple of things for his kiddos.

Then it was off to Hoboken for night two of the original four-night-no-repeat shows. Besides seeing George and Maria again, we finally got to meet my internet friend, Cindy at Maxwell's. We had a blast! She and I stood in the front singing and taking videos. The band was phenomenal--high energy, screaming vocals, sweat spraying everywhere. It was awesome and over waaaaay too quickly.

Part Deux was a road trip to Dewey Beach with my good bud, Kelly. Thanks to Kelly for indulging my fangirl self and tagging along. We stayed two doors down from the club and happened to run into Rhett on our way back from the beach... in my swimsuit... smelling of the sea... with crazy-assed beach, blown hair. Uggh!

The show was incredible, as they all are. We stood front and left center (mole side) with...guess who? George and Maria, who proceeded to get me very, very drunk. :) So much fun!

The link to that post is here.

Parte Tres was held in my own backyard, basically. A freebie at Hartwood Acres. It was a rain soaked, sun drenched evening, but the crowd was into it. George and Maria weren't present, but I met a sweet, sweet fan Annie during the downpour, whom my friends and I adopted for the evening. Another tremendous, kick-ass performance by the boys. Plus Annie and I hung around and got to talk to all the band members.

I know. It's getting monotonous. For you maybe, but for me... I can't get enough of him/them. Seriously.

A link to that post is here.

So the score is now Francis: 2; Rhett/Old 97's: 5

As our new anchor Rick says: Then the bottom dropped out.

We had nothing. Bupkis. Zilch. Nada. Until mid-August when Colin Hay came to town. He's no spring chicken, but his voice is still as clear as ever. We had very entertaining evening, especially watching his Brazilian wife interpretive dance around the stage. Another welcomed 80s comeback.

A link to that post is here.

September brought two great evenings. First up was another Francis house concert. This time in Malvern, PA at the home of his booker, Kate. We've been exchanging emails and phone calls for years, but this was the first time to actually meet her and Larry. It was Larry's birthday, so he got to call the set list. A fantastic way to start our vacation.

A link to that post is here.

Score: Francis: 3; Rhett: 5

We returned home to be treated to the jazzy pop sounds of Ireland's Bell X1 performing at our favorite club, Club Cafe. I was treated to an in-studio performance at WYEP that afternoon, but nothing prepared me for the unique experience of that concert.

A link to that post is here.

The October breeze brought Mike Doughty & his Question Jar show to our fair city. His voice is amazing! And the question jar bit is brilliant. Two hours of wit, scatting, infectious grooves AND a freshly pressed CD of the evening's performance. Sweet!

A link to that post is here.

November offered a mid-month road trip to Dallas for the CF Benefit Concert featuring... RHETT! Oh, like you're surprised. The billing for the event included Dallas locals, The O's and producer extraordinaire Salim Nourallah. Rhett played a private VIP meet and greet, as well as his 90 minute solo showcase. The crowd chatter was disappointing, but he's always worth the price of admission. Plus he was really working his long locks. Have I mentioned he's perfect? No. Added bonus, we got to visit with our dear gal pal, Myra Jean. Cindy drove up from Austin to join us for the affair, too.

Don't we look like we're having fun? We were. I know what you're thinking...what?! no photo of Rhett?! Oh, all right. If you insist.

A link to that post is here.

Score: Francis: 3, Rhett: 6

December. Dear, Dear December. Once again we started our vacation early with a back door invite to a private performance by 90s pop star, John Wesley Harding at WYEP. His classic English literary wit shown brightly that night. We had a great time being the loud table in the back. The evening rekindled our love and appreciation of JWH's music.

Our first stop on our jaunt across the PA pond was Philly and Francis. Sounds like some sort of cocktail, doesn't it? Anywho, other than house concerts, Francis will pretty much only play the Tin Angel. The evening was remarkable, filled with old favorites. It felt as though we were in someone's living room. We left the venue with lighter hearts.

Mid week brought us to another JWH freebie, this time at the university in which he is an artist in residence. The Cabinet of Wonders featured Todd Barry, Larry Murphy, a couple of writers and an hilarious skit written by Wes himself. An afternoon well spent.

A link to the post of these three shows is here.

Score: Francis: 4, Rhett: 6

And then there were the bookend Rhett shows. *sigh*

A quaint used bookstore near NYU hosted Rhett for a benefit for Housing Works. A lot of the people present were there for the opening act, TVs Jill Hennessy, but their eyes were opened to the beauty of witnessing the lovely blue-eyed one's talents. And boy did he ROCK IT! So much so he split the staging apart a bit which knocked his beer to the floor. I've said it before. He is adorable, especially when he flubs the lyrics. And of course we ran into none other than our soon to become old friends, George and Maria!

The end of the week found us north of New York in a frozen tundra named Pawling, NY. The Towne Crier Cafe was the setting for the final Miller-magic moment of my year. He was warm, confident and in his home element performing in front of some of his friends. This was his only Christmas show and we were lucky to be part of it. We hung out a bit with George and Maria, as well as one of Rhett's friends, Marcy afterwards. I can't think of a better way to end the Year of Murray. :D

The link to this post is here. (But, come on! You should remember this one. I only wrote it a couple days ago.)

Final tally: Francis: 4, Rhett: 8

The only thing that would have made me completely lose my mind is if I could have made it to Dallas this week for the outrageously epic four-night-no-repeat-evening-with.. stand the Old 97's played at the historic Sons of Hermann Hall. I have a feeling that experience will never be repeated. And frankly, I'm a little bitter about missing it. But what can you do. I have to keep my job. But if there was a time machine, I would totally go to there.

So that's it. My amazing year of Me. I cannot thank my ever-loving Geo for his unending patience with me as I reverted back to a crazy 16 year old. He is remarkable and the light of my life.

Thank you 2009. Here's hoping 2010 is just as noteworthy.

Catching Up On Vacation, Part II

or it's all about Rhett **Obsession Alert**

Okay, so as I write this the Old 97's are three days into a four night no-repeat, Evening With... concert fest at Dallas' historic Sons of Herman Hall. Our New York friends, George and Maria (yeah...same names. weird isn't it) have flown down to partake in the pure, unadulterated joy of every single show.

I am so freaking JEALOUS!!

I am completely green with envy.

I hate them.

No. Of course I don't. Well... maybe just a little. They're lovely people whom we've gotten to know from going to Old 97's & Rhett shows. (They went to all four, no-repeat shows in Hoboken this summer, too. hate them.) It's just the green-eyed monster talking. Every year the band puts on a balls-to-the-wall, four day fest for their home town. I would LOVE to go, but here's the rub. Even though I've been at my job for like, a full 2 1/2 geological periods, I will never have the week between Christmas and New Year's off.

Never. Ever.

Until I retire. Let's see...I'll be 65, Rhett will be 55, Murry & Ken will be 60 and 62... They could still rock out, right? I mean, look at the Stones. Yeah...that's just too sad and pathetic a thought to ponder. So I have to settle for living vicariously through others.

Here we are after Rhett's Pawling, NY show from this vacation. They're lovely people, but I still pretend hate them a little.

But wait...isn't this supposed to be about the fun we had on our vacation? Sure was, drama queen. Stop belly aching about what you're missing and concentrate on the good fortune you had. Loser. Alright, Alright... No need to get snarky. Be-yatch. (is talking to yourself the first sign of crazy?)

Okay, so let's start again...

Let's begin with Monday. Again through the powers of Twitter, I stumbled on a tweet from a wonderful New York charity near NYU called Housing Works. They operate an all-volunteer run bookstore and consignment shop, whose profits go towards providing housing to people with AIDS. They just so happened to be hosting a benefit featuring TV's Jill Hennessy and ... the lovely blue-eyed one.

Jill Hennessy (from Crossing Jordan) was surprisingly not bad. She has a nice voice and called my Rhett on stage for her last song, The Pogues "Fairytale of New York".

I just love how shy and awkward he can be. It's endearing. And Gez Louise. Could she have a longer neck?!? Seriously. BTW, that's George and Maria in the front row.

Anywho-he compiled a literary set list consisting of only his songs which contain the word book (504, Book of Poems, Drowning in the Days) or reference authors like DeLillo, Salinger or David Foster Wallace or are based on literature. It was rather impressive. He's one smart, well-read guy.

And boy did he rock the place!! So much so, his usual high-energy, foot stomping actually separated the two-piece, make shift stage sending his beer tumbling to the carpet, spilling its contents. A sad sight indeed.

Book of Poems/Four-Eyed Girl

That video perfectly illustrates the kind of energy he puts into shows. He is moving that platform, Baby! You see why I love him? He puts everything he has into performing. Sorry the image is out of focus. Apparently I suck as a videographer at times. This is one of my favorites, but then again...there're all pretty much my favorite.

Drowning in the Days

Not only is he gorgeous and uber talented, he speaks French, too. The perfect fantasy man, even if he plays a sour chord once in a while and duffs some of the lyrics to his opening number. Still perfect.

Question

As my friend Cindy says, "Any time I get to stand in front of him and hear him sing is a good day."

Right on, Sister!

Believe it or not, the week wasn't ALL about my fantasy husband. In between Rhett sets, Geo and I went shopping at the Union Market and bought the grooviest zipper purses. They come packaged as a spool and you zip it up to form the purse. They are the absolute coolest! We bought, like five.

We also went to museums, drank festive cocktails, ate incredible ethnic foods, visited our nephew, drank margaritas, ate more tasty foods, shopped some more, drank and stopped by the Rockefeller Tree.

Our last concert stop of the week was a short jaunt north to a quaint little club in Pawling, NY. Once again, who do we see at the front center table? Our pals George and Maria, who happened to be seated in front of friends of the Millers. We were seated half way back, but honestly there wasn't a bad seat in the house. New Paltz's own The Trapps did a fine job as opening act. The place was packed with their friends and family. It's always fun to watch people who are unfamiliar with Rhett's song stylings become converts.

It was interesting to see Rhett in his natural habitat playing to friends of his. The club is only about an hour east of his home. He seemed really relaxed and playful. His friends even sang the long abandoned "You got the teeth of the hydra upon ya" chorus to Singular Girl, shaming him into singing it as well.

It was fantastic! He played a 24-song set list including two Christmas songs

Holly Jolly Christmas

and charmed us all with his witty banter and the story behind I Need To Know Where I Stand

You can hear Geo laughing in the background. Mr. Miller is so freaking charming!! Seeing him play makes me so very, very happy. Every show is distinct. Every song interpreted a little differently than the last time. Every evening he puts himself out there.

Oh yeah...and he's really kind and tolerant of goofballs who adore him. Oh and did I mention how gorgeous he is? No? Well he totally is.

Whether he's playing alone or with the band, Time Bomb is always the final song of the night. It's such a bittersweet moment for me. It is such a great song, which he plays with complete and utter abandon using up whatever energy he has left. But it signals the end of the evening. And I'm never ready for him to stop. EVER.

What's the show biz saying, always leave them wanting more? Well, he certainly does.

So ends my amazing year following a remarkably talented, lovely blue-eyed man around the Eastern seaboard. The more amazing thing is my darling Geo was along for the ride. So it's only fitting to end this post with the perfect closer. And I promise not to be so obsessive next year. HaHaHaHa!! *Snort* Sometimes I crack myself up.

"I got it badly for a stick-legged (boy)!!"

What We Did On Our Pre-Christmas Vacation

or catching my breath while catching up on old post fodder

Okay, so better late than never, right? That's my story anyway, and I'm sticking to it, dammit!!

As I've bemoaned for what seems like the entire freaking month of December, things got a little away from me. What with the vacation happenings, social obligations, Christmas Eve party prep ...I barely had enough time to imbibe let alone blog. (Waaa Waaa Waaaa. Don't you feel bad for me?)

Well I'm blogging now, BABY! And I'm not even getting any of it on my new shirt either. SCORE! (the term "blog" always puts me in mind of a colorful side effect of the flu. "Oy! I was so sick last night. I didn't get any sleep because I was blogging, like every half hour. It was nasty.")

Where to begin..

I'll try to make the telling of vacation events as brief as possible, but you know how verbose I am. Like right now. I should just shut up and spin a yarn or two, but no. I have to blather on and on and on...

Bottom line: this will take two posts, because the lovely blue-eye one is involved in not one, but two evenings and everything surrounding him stands alone. Naturally. I mean, come on. Look at him.

*Sigh*

Sorry. I'm back now.

That said...

Y'all know we had a harrowing travel day back to the Burgh told here. I seriously was doubting we'd arrive home much before April. But that's the end of the tale.

Part One: Our escapades began in earnest on Thursday evening at WYEP, crashing a private shindig meant to thank all the notable, big-money board members of the public station. Thanks to one wonderfully witty and talented Wesley Stace (aka John Wesley Harding, dashing, somewhat prominent pop star in the 90s) and the collective powers of Twitter and MySpace, I was able to procure two tickets to said soiree from the artist himself.

Thank you again, Mr. Stace.

I say that like he's even going to remotely read this. Yeah.

Anywho, as is the case with these events, hardly anyone in the room was familiar with the English lad's music save Geo, me, the DJs and a thin smattering of folk whom I suspect received the other set of tickets provided to Wes. As is our lot in life, we were the designated loud table in the back. I know. Shocking, right? Hey, somebody had to make a fuss so he didn't feel like he was playing to a roomful of crickets.

Wes was fabulous. Sprinkling humorous stories, as well as his utter and complete hatred of Sting, between tunes. He really hates Sting. I mean reallyreallyREALLY hates Sting. Very amusing. Then he treated us to a complete musical telling of the story of Hamlet, which is not recorded anywhere except an old DVD. Geo, being a HUGE fan of Hamlet, LOVED it!!

It was great fun being in the audience and meeting him afterwards. He is highly entertaining with a classic literary, sardonic English wit. Plus we kinda felt like those crazy, Facebook, White House gate crashers or two Jews busting into a restricted Country Club. Deliciously naughty. Just try to keep us out. Bwahahahahahahaha!!

Part Two: We drove across the big-ass state of Pennsylvania...in a snow storm...to Philadelphia and a rare Francis Dunnery concert at The Tin Angel.

We have loved Francis and his music forever. Five years ago, he chucked the club scene and started playing house concerts exclusively.

He plays his songs. In your house. For you.

How cool is that?! These evenings are incredible. Just him and his guitar in a living room. We've had the good fortune to attend four house concerts in complete strangers' homes. Everybody is so cool because it's all about him and his music. Even though Francis swears like a trucker, he emits a strong, positive vibe which envelopes those around him. His fan base is as devout as Rhett's. They're kind of two sides of the same coin.

This was the second time we've seen him at the Tin Angel. He considers the Angel his home (they supported him in the early days) and plays an annual show every December. Over the years we've gotten friendly with him and the incredibly caring, supportive people surrounding him. They could not be any kinder.

This photo's from Kate's house this September. She does all of his bookings. Tony there on the left is his loyal merch guy. The sweet, young thing under Francis' wing is his love, Erica. How about that. Both the guys I'm crazy about are emotionally bound to women named Erica.

Anywho, here are a couple of songs from his Philly show.

Living In New York City

Heartache Reborn

Holiday

Good Lord, this entry is Baby Huey HUGE. Okay, moving on quickly.

Part Four: (Parts three and five involve my fantasy honey and will occupy the next post) Geo and I dragged my sister, Weezy to Farleigh Dickinson University to partake in John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders...for free. Again, an event stumbled on through the power of the Internet (specifically Twitter) and from the horse's mouth the prior Thursday. Turns out Wes is an artist in residence at FDU, hence the location of the freebie.

The idea behind these Cabinets is to make book and poetry readings more interesting. To that end, he invites comedians, writers, singers and other artistic types to join him on stage to perform. Everybody gets about 10-15 minutes or two-three songs. Singer PT Walkley, comedians Todd Barry and Larry Murphy and two writers whose names I've forgotten participated.

Todd Barry was awesome mainly because he just riffed on the small crowd and the fact it was 2pm--the comedic equivalent to the ubiquitous Early Bird dinner. Larry Murphy was brilliant imitating Christopher Walken as his babysitter and Daniel Day-Lewis from "There Will Be Blood" in a skit Wes wrote about that character calling customer support. It was priceless! I'm such a boob. I should have recorded the skit to share. But, alas, I didn't. So I have to live with my misguided decision. But I did record some songs.

In My Room (sung in German)

There are more videos from both Francis and the Cabinet at FDU on YouTube. Feel free to watch them. Please. Watch them. I'm begging you. No I'm not. Yes, yes I am. No, really. You don't have to unless of course you want to. Please watch them. No. I kid. No pressure. Please do it...

Almost Friday Photo #1

WTF?!??

What fresh Christmas Hell is this?

Now this is the stuff of nightmares... and years and years and years of therapy. This little girl is destined to grow up to write a scathing tell-all about her wretched, boozy-floozy Mom and her diabolical plan to splinter her delicate psyche.

Seriously. Trailer Trash Barbie Mom... What were you thinking?! Did you not register the uber creepy factor of this Fright Night Santa? Was there no ICK factor red flag raised at the sight of his frightening forehead, because this cat would have sent me into convulsions. EWwwwwwww!! *shudder*

No shit.

He's just one step away from being a Killer Klown from Outer Space, and you all know how I feel about clowns spelled with a "c" or "k". PLUS he's wearing I-don't-want-to-leave-any-incriminating-prints-behind-while-I-chloroform-your-kid-and-stuff-her-in-my-white-panel-van gloves.

Good God, man! Who lets her little precious sit on the lap of this freak show.

But on the other hand, baby girl there looks pretty happy. So what do I know.

Happy Christmas y'all. May your day be freak-show free!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

or it must be Holiday Hootenanny time!!!

Okay, so people who say Public radio is boring are out of their flipping heads! We in Pittsburgh are blessed with THE BEST public station on earth.. 91.3 WYEP (www.wyep.org)

They play anything and everything (except gangsta rap and like, Lady Ga Ga crap thankyouverymuch). In one hour you could hear such new upstarts as Vampire Weekend, Fanfarlo, Bell X1 played next to old standards like Levon Helm, Bruce Springsteen, The Cure next to reggae-inspired Michael Franti and K'Naan. The set lists are inspired and inspiring. Their mission statement is "Where the Music Matters". No truer words were ever uttered by a company. This station is a life line to all of us who crave exposure to new artists, singer songwriters, world beat...pretty much any music that isn't cookie cutter, boy band, bubble gum pop. AND...it's blissfully commercial free. They stream live on their website. I encourage everyone to try it out. I promise you won't settle for anything else.

That said, for the last two years WYEP has put on a Christmas concert dubbed their Holiday Hootenanny. That evening worked wonders on my Bah Humbug, grumpiness last year which I wrote about here.

This year's Hootenanny was moved from the station's cozy but cramped studio to the much more lavish and spacious digs of the Pittsburgh Opera. The space accommodated over 400 festive folks.

It was phenomenal!!

The band, Silver and Gold, comprised of members from a number of local bands, kicked BUTT! They belted out such raucous greats as Springsteen's "Santa Claus is Coming To Town", Darlene Love's "Christmas, Baby Please Come Home" and a full on, rocking version of the Kinks "Father Christmas" as well as the quieter "Oh Holy Night", beautifully sung by the angelic Casey Corbin.

Anyone leaving this evening without the Christmas spirit firmly planted in their soul would have to have ice in their veins or be named Edward Cullen. (see what I did there? huh, huh... I worked in the whole popular, overused vampire thingie.)

This year my sister and I were accompanied by most of our Card Club gal pals. A fun time was had by all. And we all got to feel good about ourselves since the proceeds went to restock the local food bank. Double karma point score.

Here are some of the festive holiday tunes from the evening.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Last year Sara was pregnant...I mean REALLY pregnant. Really, REALLY preggers. Like the baby's arm was practically hanging out and waving to us. He was born two weeks later. Anywho, she and her husband Scott sang this last year. She was swilling a martini and he was smoking a stogie. A funny visual.

Moving on..

Snoopy and the Red Baron (Christmas Bells)

This diddy was sung by two brothers from Mars. As in Mars, Pennsylvania. Seriously. We have a town named Mars. We also have a township named Moon. Luckily, no town named Uranus. Nobody wants to live in Uranus. Come on... Who would live in Uranus?

*giggle* you said Ur-anus...

Oh! Oh! Check this out! At :27 in, the one brother totally grabs his bro's tat and gives it a honk! No shit! Some suspect brotherly love there, no? Perhaps that's how they roll on Mars. "Merry Christmas! Honk Honk!"

Merry Christmas, Baby (?)

Local singer extraordinaire, Ben Hardt belts out a bluesy tune I think is called "Merry Christmas, Baby". If not, too bad. That's what I'm calling it now.

And then Quentin Tarantino showed up and blew the roof off the joint with his rendition of The Kinks "Father Christmas":

Father Christmas (by special guest Quentin Tarantino)

This song alone puts me in the proper Christmas frame of mind. Love those Kinks!!

There are a couple more songs posted on my YouTube site: "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Blue Christmas" and The Pogues' "Fairytale of NY"--which coincidentally the lovely blue-eyed one sang with TV's Jill Hennessy at a bookstore concert we attended on vacation.

*le sigh*

Oh, you know that'll show up on a future posting. Be patient, my lovelies or at least be forewarned.

Anywho, I know I won't be back here before Friday because I'll be hip-deep in muck and mire preparing for the family soiree, so I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa or maybe just a Happy Friday, if you are so inclined.

In any case, may your day be filled with abundant love, laughter and loads of libation... Because sometimes it's the only way to get through family functions. I realize not everyone is as lucky as me.

Cheers!!