Beyond Rivalry

Welcome to the festival of Christmas goodness!

The Astonishing BetaMax Christmas: Click on the TV Guide to see the bazillion Christmas ads, Christmas shows, Christmas cartoons from days of yore, including ads by Folgers, Nyquil, McDonald's, Atari, Kodak, Tesco, Cabbage Patch kids, plus clips from Perfect Strangers, Teddy Ruxpin, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, the Muppets, One to Grow On, Will Vinton's Claymation, the annual CBS Christmas card, a Hall and Oates 'Jingle Bell Rock' video, some Max Headroom, ETC! Click the remote's channel buttons to change channels, and click on the TV Guide to see what's coming up in the next hour and a half or so.

If nostalgia from the 1970s and '80s isn't nostalgic enough for you, listen to Voices of Christmas Past, humdingers from 1898-1922, including Santa Claus Hides in the Phonograph, 'And the Glory of the Lord' from the Messiah, Christmas Morning at Clancey's, Uncle Josh Plays Santa Claus, Angels from the Realms of Glory, and 18 more!

Santas Working Overtime is a chaotic link dump of all things Xmas, from recipes and crafts to videos, audio clips, lists, quizzes, reviews,  podcasts and mix tapes, charity links, classical music, Christmas customs, cartoons, and on and on. For instance: John Cleese reading a somewhat updated and rather violent version of 'The Night Before Christmas' ("On Keith! And Banana! And whatever you're called.") Also: 10 Christmas Songs I'm Already Sick Of (and 10 Geeky Alternatives) at Wired. The one not listed here, which I'm sick of just thinking about, is 'The Little Drummer Boy.' OMG.

For Better or Werts' Yule Tube: Watch Christmas TV Shows Online! at freebies Hulu, TV4U, In2TV. Hulu has current Christmas shows from 30 Rock, The Office, ER, Psych, et al., and nostalgia from Barney Miller, Father Knows Best, Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, Married With Children, Chicago Hope, Picket Fences, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Family Ties, Bewitched, Spongebob, et al.

The classics Angels We Have Heard Are High, Cavalcade of Bad Nativities, and It Came Upon a Midnight Weird: Cavalcade of Bad Nativities II.

Similarly, Bad Gift Emporium. Rate each giftrocity; some are even available for purchase! Examples: Candy corn mouse butterknife set. Flipflop cheese plate ("Feet and cheese: could there really be a better match?"). Decoupaged fur-lined trash can. Submissive Jesus. Chanukah party music. Deer meat. A 'Butt Face' towel. Sea monkeys. You get the idea.

Classic Holiday Music with the Original Golden Artists. It's a radio show. Turn it on and hear what's playing. It's an eclectic mix of classical, country (All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth by Buck Owens), highly produced boys' choirs, Burl Ives, The Andrews Sisters, etc. But "No Rap or Rock."

Paperless Christmas advent calendar. Odd multimedia expectation.

The Five Most Terrifying Local TV Christmas Commercials

Make you own eggnog -- in 18 easy steps.

One of my favourites: Karen Carpenter singing Merry Christmas, Darling on Bruce Forsyth's show.

On NPR's All Things Considered today, a selection of summer songs from Tom Moon's 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. You can hear audio at NPR for 'I Want to Take You Higher' from Sly and the Family Stone's Stand! (I think I would instead choose 'Dance To The Music' or the obvious 'Hot Fun in the Summertime'), 'Poinciana' from Ahmad Jamal's But Not for Me: Live at the Pershing, and "L'estate: First Movement" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons as performed by Janine Jansen.  Moon also cites Springsteen's Born to Run album.

Entertainment Weekly lists its 100 Greatest Summer Songs of All Time ('Hot Fun in the Summertime' is #9 on their list); Pop Culture Madness lists 40 Beach Music Vacation tunes.

The most summery song I know is The Catalinas' 'Summertime Calling Me' (1975). Brings back those Myrtle Beach days. Lately, I'm loving Springsteen's 'Girls in the Their Summer Clothes.'

Looking for music for your memorial service? Check out these ideas, which include the Monty Python song, 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life'; Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem (Kempe or Klemperer versions, 79 minutes long); Bach's 'Sleepers Awake;' Prince's 'Let's Go Crazy;' Gillian Welch's 'I Dream A Highway;' Crash Test Dummies' 'At My Funeral;' requiems of Verdi, Faure, and Mozart; AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell' ...  

(My list includes, at the moment, Louis Armstrong's 'What A Wonderful World,' Kate Smith's 'I'll Be Seeing You,' and either Ella's or Bobby Short's 'They Can’t Take That Away from Me')

Tagging along to Belle Lettre at Law and Letters' list of music she listens to "in order to exaggerate a certain emotion," which in her case consists of country and jazz (esp. for music of longing), here's a first stab at mine. What are yours?

(I can't vouch for the YouTube videos -- I'm including most of them for the audio performances)

Wallowing, Despondent

Unbreak My Heart - Toni Braxton

Pills - The Perishers with Sarah McLachlan

By Your Side - Sade

Leave Me Be - Kate and Anna McGarrigle

Damn Crazy - disappear fear 

Somebody Already Broke My Heart - Sade 

Quickly Enough - Scissor Sisters 

Still Within the Sound of My Voice - Linda Ronstadt 

Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen 

Seven Year Ache - Rosanne Cash

My Immortal - Evanescence

What You Didn't Say - Mary Chapin Carpenter

Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen 

I Miss You So - Diana Krall 

Bursting with Happiness

While You See A Chance - Steve Winwood (my favourite song to wake up to)

Life - Des'ree  (the lyrics may not be much but the music is so happy)

The Lucky One - Alison Krauss and Union Station 

Roam - B52s

Beautiful Life - Ace of Base 

Alison Road - Gin Blossoms 

Heyya - OutKast 

Holiday - Green Day

Switch - Will Smith 

It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere - Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet

La Danse de la Vie - Beausoleil

Quelle Belle Vie - Beausoleil

Defiant 

Don't Turn Around - Ace of Base 

Turnaround - Stealin Horses

True - Concrete Blonde 

Hard Way - Mary Chapin Carpenter

You Win Again - Mary Chapin Carpenter 

Don't Talk - 10,000 Maniacs 

Headstrong - 10,000 Maniacs 

I Won't Back Down - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 

Longing: Nostalgic

China Roses - Enya 

Sweet Virginia Breeze - Robbin Thompson

Shilo - Neil Diamond

Brooklyn Roads - Neil Diamond

Southland in the Springtime - Indigo Girls (video is only a clip)

Come On, Come On - Mary Chapin Carpenter 

What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong 

Bound By the Beauty - Jane Siberry 

Theme from A Summer Place - Percy Faith and His Orchestra

Summertime's Calling Me - The Catalinas (starts at 3:15 on the YouTube video)

Myrtle Beach Days - Fantastic Shakers 

Verdi Cries - Natalie Merchant and 10,000 Maniacs

Longing: Tempted

Original Sin - Elton John

Dance Along the Edge - Concrete Blonde 

Once or Twice - Holly Near

Indoor Fireworks - Elvis Costello

Deep Dark Despair 

I Eat Dinner (When the Hunger's Gone) - Kate and Anna McGarrigle (clip is Rufus Wainwright, Kate's son, and Dido)

Fairytale of New York - The Pogues

Christian rocker Larry Norman died on Sunday, at age 60, of heart ailments. His music meant a lot to me when I was in college. More at Christianity Today and The Huffington Post, where Mark Joseph comments:

"Norman will be mentioned in obits as the Father of Christian Rock, but that's a misunderstanding of who he was. Someone once said 'I'm too saved for the Sinners and the Saved don't want me around' and that best described Norman's amazing life and career."

I wouldn't mind that epitaph.

His "The Great American Novel" is remarkably current, though written in 1972:

"You are far across the ocean in a war that's not your own / And while you're winning theirs, you're gonna lose the one at home. / Do you really think the only way to bring about the peace / Is to sacrifice your children and kill all your enemies? / The politicians all make speeches, while the newsmen all take notes / And they exaggerate the issues as they shove it down our throats ...."

"The Outlaw" is lovely, and it probably influenced my understanding of Jesus more than I know, though the assumption in this song and his others that leaving earth for a better life in heaven equals eternal life isn't part of my current delusion. That said, "Reader's Digest"  (not on YouTube yet) is one of my favourite Norman songs.  All the songs I mentioned are on the 1972 album Only Visiting This Planet, which I own, but he's actually quite prolific and has been covered by a variety of folks.

His official website, with a note on Larry's death written by his brother, Charles. Some interesting background and a tribute of sorts from Ben Anastas at Moistworks. Apparently (per CT via Wikipedia), a documentary on his life is due out this year.

I heard on All Things Considered Monday that great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson had died the day before, at age 82. Today Sheila Lennon at Projo offers a short list of links to mp3s, including Peterson playing The Christmas Waltz, and obits. More at NPR here and here, and at Wikipedia.

Assorted reading:

1. What teen girls are made of, in Salon: "In their own dark and funny words, four teenage girls tell us everything we need to know about sex, parents and gym class." Excerpted from Red: The Next Generation of American Writers -- Teenage Girls -- on What Fires Up Their Lives Today, edited by Amy Goldwasser (2007). Better than you think it's going to be. (If you're not a Salon subscriber, you may be asked to watch an ad or two.)

2.  Two from Gretchen at The Happiness Project:

Four tips for surmounting boredom or irritation. I'm rarely bored but frequently irritated. The one that almost always works for me is: "Take the perspective of a journalist or scientist. Really study what's around you. What are people wearing, what do the interiors of buildings look like, what noises do you hear? If you bring your analytical powers to bear, you can make almost anything interesting."

What’s making you 'feel bad'? I don't think I agree with all she says here, but it seems worth thinking about: The premise is that "removing sources of bad feelings will protect your good feelings from being swamped by guilt, anger, remorse, irritation, envy, fear, anxiety, boredom, and all the rest of that awful family. ... These emotions are unpleasant, but they're VERY valuable. They're showing you what you need to change or accept. These feelings are so unpleasant, however, that we often pretend that we aren't experiencing them, or we try to ignore them. In some situations, this attitude is useful. But for this exercise, really concentrate on your negative moments."

3. What We Learn from the Dying by T.E. Holt, M.D.: A doctor shares what his patients' last moments have taught him, in Men's Health. The incidents are well-selected and well-written (i.e., made me cry).

4. Curing the Religious Disease, Part 4: A/theism by Richard Beck at Experimental Theology. Quoting from Peter Rollins in How (Not) to Speak of God: "We ought to affirm our view of God while at the same time realizing that that view is inadequate. Hence we act as both theist and atheist. This a/theistic approach is deeply deconstructive since it always prevents our ideas from scaling the throne of God. Yet it is important to bear in mind that this deconstruction is not destruction, for the questioning it engages in is not designed to undermine God but to affirm God." ... This approach is "a recognition that negation is embedded within, and permeates, all religious affirmation. It is an acknowledgment that a desert of ignorance exist in the midst of every oasis of understanding."  Lots more at ET, including comparison to theologians Tillich and Barth.

5. Violence: A Micro-sociological Theory by Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution. Cowen talks about Randall Collins' new book with this title: "The main argument is that people are not as predisposed to violence as we might think. Collins cites a wide array of evidence, from military behavior in the field to, most intriguingly, video studies of the micro-expressions of violent perpetrators.  People are more naturally tense and fearful, sometimes full of bluster but usually looking to avoid confrontation unless they have vastly superior numbers on their side. The prospect of violence makes people feel weak and scared. The greatest dangers of violence arises from atrocities against the weak under overwhelming conditions, ritualized violence enacted in front of supportive audiences, or clandestine terrorism or murder. ... 'Violence is not primordial, and civilization does not tame it; the opposite is much nearer the truth.'" The last line and the bit on ritualized violence in particular could be read as consistent with Girardian thought, but the idea that violence is synonymous with physical confrontation seems plain wrong. People who are fearful of confrontation may act from and cause great violence all the same, and their actions (or inactions) may even lead to physical violence down the line, where it can't be traced back to them. Think about gossip, numerous kinds of passive-aggressive behaviour, actions that derive from envy and jealousy, cruel acts disguised as kind ones, and so on.

Some of the topics sound fascinating: discussions on "the micro-dynamics of the Rape of Nanjing, how British soccer stadium designs were (but now less) conducive to violence, how demonstrations can turn into violent confrontations with the police (lines break down and micro-situations of overwhelming power arise), which children and schools are most conducive to bullying, why basketball has fewer fights than football or hockey (no padding), the dynamics of a mosh pit, and how hired assassins motivate themselves."

6.  Looking for a good book? Fall Books: Slate's take on this season's books. Fiction and non-.

This one sounds promising to me: A Secular Age by Charles Taylor: "In medieval times virtually everyone in the Western world believed in God; disbelief was hard since magic appeared to be everywhere. Charles Taylor describes this earlier time as having 'the social grounded in the sacred' and "human drama unfolded within a cosmos." Today belief in God is often seen as 'optional,' most of all in Western Europe. The modern world, Taylor argues, creates an open space where people can wander spiritually. Reason has been exalted as the best road to knowledge, and thus many people choose uncertain detachment rather than commit to one particular religious worldview. Taylor's masterful integration of history, sociology, philosophy, and theology demands much of the reader."

And an engaging review of three short non-fiction titles about classical music:  "The Musical Mystique: Defending classical music against its devotees," by Richard Taruskin, in The New Republic  (22 October 2007). The books reviewed are Who Needs Classical Music? Cultural Choice and Musical Value by Julian Johnson; Classical Music, Why Bother? Hearing the World of Contemporary Culture Through a Composer's Ears by Joshua Fineberg; and Why Classical Music Still Matters by Lawrence Kramer.

... and more, on crime fiction writer Peter Robinson's predictably eclectic playlist, at Paper Cuts.

I imagine this is true for other people too: The lyrics I hear (find salient) when I listen to music lodge in my head like pieces of a dream. They resonate and reverberate inside me, contributing to my mood, my choices, my actions, what I say and don't say; and, if you ask me what I dreamed about three days ago, or what were the words of the song I listened to yesterday, I probably can't tell you. In both cases, if you could start me off with a few lyrics, or a few images, I could give you the next line of the song, or describe the dream scene in some depth. In other words, dreams and songs are powerful for me, sometimes influencing far-reaching decisions made in a split second, and yet they feel so transient because after a very short time, they are not accessible to me by intention, only by chance. Does anyone know what I mean? (Looks like anyone who does might actually be fortunate, according to this article ...)

What I'm listening to today -- or rather, what I'm hearing today -- and won't remember (consciously) tomorrow unless I'm cued (I wonder if you could cue the unheard lyrics, too, what I listened to but didn't seem to notice ...):

------

^ "I used to live alone before I knew you" 

^ "We knew all the answers and we shouted them like anthems / anxious and suspicious that God knew how much we cheated" 

^  "Let him know that you know best / Cause after all you do know best / Try to slip past his defense / Without granting innocence / Lay down a list of what is wrong / The things you've told him all along / Pray to God he hears you / And pray to God he hears you"

^ "Pour me something tall and strong, make it a Hurricane before I go insane." 

^ "I'm 99 for a moment / Dying for just another moment / And I'm just dreaming / Counting the ways to where you are"

^  "Everything's stuck together"

^  "Life is demanding without understanding"

^  "Hey, you're extraordinary, how come you act like such a clown?"

^ "Yes, it's been quite a summer, / rental cars and westbound trains" 

^  "Felt tragic without reason / There's magic and there's malice in every season"

^ "You've got to take the edge off / if you want to get the glow"

^  "One may think we're all right / but we need pills to sleep at night / We need lies to make it through the day /We're not O.K. / One may think we're doing fine / But if I had to lay it on the line/ We're losing ground with every passing day / We're not O.K. ... / That's one thing I would never / say to you"

^ "Your voice it chased away / all the sanity in me"

^ "But it's one missed step / You'll slip before you know it / And there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed / Though I've tried, I've fallen / I have sunk so low"

^ "Where's it gone, / oh where's it gone?"

^  "Just put your thoughts away / Never mind how it seems"

^  "Sometimes you say a look will cross my eyes / While we're sitting close to touch and talking / It's like my heart is saying, 'Don't go it all the way, / save that kind of feeling for another day'"

 ^ "To you, the next best thing to playing and winning / is playing and losing. / You're the lucky one."

^ "My occupational hazard is / my occupation's just not around"

^ "There's just too much that time cannot erase"

^  "That's what I like about you: / you really know how to dance"

If you have an interest in Glenn Gould, I recommend this article from the Toronto Star to you: "The Secret Life of Glenn Gould: Nearly 25 years after the death of perhaps the greatest piano virtuoso of the 20th century, the Star reveals a dramatically fresh portrait of the Canadian icon."  Describes his relationship with a married woman (and quite a bit about her apart from him), his unusual sense of humour, his paranoid episodes, and his phobias, addictions and obsessions.