Welcome to December...

Here's the start of Howdy's Christmas socks...

This is one complete repeat and the socks are about 3" long at this point.  They've got this garter-diagonal-stepped thing going on.  More news as it happens.

I've been having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit this year.  I finally pulled out some holiday music yesterday, a compilation CD of stuff I remixed from my CD collection (almost 50 discs.)  I have eclectic tastes.  One of my favorite Christmas traditions was to tune in to the local NPR affiliates broadcast of a show called "The Christmas Blockbuster."  It was 12 hours of Christmas recordings from the host's personal collection.  It was a great mix of trivia, music of all genres, spoken recordings, etc.  Well, just before Thanksgiving, this guy suddenly died (he was 55).  As I was listening to my CD, I realized just how many CDs I'd discovered because of this show.  It was damned depressing...

So, I am turning to you, my readers again...Is there an artist, album or song that's the soundtrack of the season for you?  Maybe something from when you were a kid, or something you just heard last week?  I'd like to hear about it.  Silly or sublime, ubiquitous or obscure...drop me a comment.  In return, I'll list my top 5 "Desert Island Christmas Discs":

1.    Brenda Lee Jingle Bell Rock  This was the soundtrack of Christmas at my house.  Way back before Home Alone gave "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" a new lease on life, my brother and I knew all the words to all the songs on this album. 

2.   A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Original Sound Track Recording Of The CBS Television Special This TV show and I are the same age.  I know I watched it every year.  If I could play the piano like one person, it would be Vince Guaraldi.  I know I've bought this record, tape, VHS, CD *and* DVD.

3.   Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas  Ella Fitzgerald sounds so darned happy on this record.  And I can't live without "What are you doing New Year's Eve?"

4.   The Roches We Three Kings  I know this album came directly from the radio show I mentioned above.  These three sisters are *almost* acapella...beautiful harmonies  The title track is my favorite, followed by Do You Hear What I Hear?  Go listen to the samples at Amazon! 

5.   Scottish Xmas  Don't let anyone tell you that Napster kept people from buying music.  I downloaded a couple of tunes from this CD back before Napster went legit and I immediately went out and bought the CD.  I have absolutely no Scottish in me, but this is a great CD for background music at a Christmas party.  I love international stuff, too.

 Send me your suggestions!